Past Endeavors  The Order of the Phoenix
by BlackwolfBreen
Summary: It's been 14 years since the first war; Voldemort has risen again. With him he has captured a woman, one he believes he can use against Dumbledore himself. The Order of the Phoenix and her friends are determined to get her back.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter I - Betrayal

"Please, please don't, Sirius- Remember all those times? Remember at school- you, and- and me- and J-"

"You knew!" The man snarled. "You were the only one that could say, and before that, you knew! Who else of us would have _dreamed_-"

The first man turned to face the second and trembled, stopping in the crowded street. One hand flew to his mouth and he whimpered, the other bloodied hand slipping behind his back as he backed away as quickly as he dared. "S-sirius-"

Sirius drew his wand, advancing his steps twice as fast as Peter, cornering him. "Don't give me that rubbish, you filthy-"

With all the voice he could muster, Peter shouted, "You betrayed James and Lily!"

Shock overcame Sirius for the briefest of moments, just long enough for the street to explode in a burst of magic. People screamed. Dust flew. A rat ran for its life toward the gutter to escape the confusion. Sirius stumbled, coughed, and righted himself, glancing around frantically for any sign of his former friend.

But as a group of wizards closed in, he took the time to look around him. People lay dead around him, and the place where Peter once stood. The wizards that now grabbed him spoke, but he hardly took the words in. His gaze trailed from the bodies around him to the blood spilled on the ground and the grimy finger laying there, to a motion nearby.

Sirius caught sight of the rat's tail disappearing frantically into the drain, and as the realization of what happened settled on him, he laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II - The Order

The knock on the door came in the middle of the night. The woman waited on the steps a few minutes before the door swung open. In the darkness of the doorway stood a large dog, who glanced around briefly outside before turning his gaze on the woman. She smiled and the dog turned away to walk farther into the long hallway, so she stepped inside with her bags and closed the door behind her.

"You're looking scruffier than I remember," she said as soon as the door was shut. The dog turned back toward her and gave her an amused look before transforming before her eyes. In a matter of seconds, a man stood in the dog's place. His black hair was still long, but his face looked worn.

"You got my letter, then, Rosemary," he said.

Rosemary nodded as he pulled out his wand to levitate her bags in her grasp. She sighed and let go of them, hugging him briefly. "Yes. Sorry, I would have done it myself but I didn't want to risk any Muggles seeing."

He hugged her back before motioning down the hall with his wand, bags following. "You can stay here if you like. There's a room ready on the third floor."

"Thank you." She pulled out her wand and took the bags from him, heading to the third floor. "I can find it."

The next morning, Sirius and Rosemary met in the dining room for breakfast. They sat across from each other at the table, and she glanced around the room. The smell of frying bacon, eggs, and french toast wafted in from somewhere nearby. "So... you said we were getting together again? What's going on?"

Sirius nodded. "Voldemort's back."

"And Dumbledore's calling everyone back together."

The pair turned to see another man walk into the dining room. He carried platefuls of food, setting them down on the table. Sirius nodded back at her, but her gaze remained on the second man.

"Sirius didn't say... Remus-" She smiled slightly. "It's nice to see you again."

Remus smiled back and sat next to Sirius, who had started to eat. "It's nice to see you, too. But there are things we need to discuss."

"It'll be a little while, Remus," Sirius said. "Eat and we can talk."

Rosemary and Remus both took a plate and followed suit. "A week ago, a Death Eater impersonated Alastor Moody and nearly got Harry killed in the Triwizard Tournament," Sirius started. "The cup was a portkey to a graveyard, and now he's back. Dumbledore's calling the Order back together."

Rosemary paused, her forkful of eggs still in midair. "How's Harry?"

"Alive," Sirius said. "He's been writing. Dumbledore's ordered us not to tell him anything." A slightly regretful look passed over his face. "He's a smart boy, he'll keep his nose clean."

"I've been reading the _Daily Prophet_," she said, finishing the bite of egg. "I take it they're still under the Ministry's control?"

"Might as well be."

"Has... Dumbledore said anything about what we know? I mean, besides Voldemort being back."

It was Remus' turn to speak up. "We know more than we did before, but not much at this point. We've got an eye on Voldemort, at least."

"An eye?"

Sirius snorted, glancing resentfully away. "Snape. He's playing Death Eater again, and reporting to us. He's supposed to be back soon, the git."

"We've also got more in the Order now. Aurors, a lot of them... and Tonks and Shacklebolt work in the Ministry, so we can keep an eye out there as well. But there's a problem."

"There's always a problem," Sirius muttered derisively.

Remus continued. "There are some we believe to still be Death Eaters inside the Ministry of Magic."

"So... What does that mean for us?"

Sirius leaned forward on his elbows briefly. "Us personally? Not much. Dumbledore has me staying here, gathering Order members again. Once that's over I suppose I'll be told to stay put. Remus is out, usually, trying to get in with the werewolf community. We're hoping they'll join us this time. And you-"

"Dumbledore hasn't told us yet," Remus said. "We expect you'll be filling in however you can, probably with planning."

She nodded, glancing briefly at Sirius' hand. "Hopefully this'll all go better than last time."

A week went by and people started to come and go in the middle of the night, but there was still no sign of Dumbledore. Half a week later, he arrived for the first meeting. A week after that the Weasleys arrived, then Hermione Granger, and under Mrs. Weasleys's wishes the next meeting was conducted under the protection of several spells she hoped would keep Hermione and four of her children from overhearing.

The meetings themselves were the same. Updates from inside the Ministry, updates on suspected Death Eaters, and updates on several other things, one of which was the return of Severus Snape. Everyone except Sirius seemed excited; Snape's report would mean information on confirmed Death Eaters and maybe even Voldemort himself. It was information no one could afford to miss.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III - Faithful

"Good evening, Death Eaters."

The voice was soft and cold as it broke the silence engulfing the manor. Without hesitation, every figure responded, "Good evening, my Lord."

"Not a month ago many of you heeded the call of the Dark Mark and witnesses my return," the man said from his chair at the head of the table, a gigantic snake wrapping itself around his shoulders. He caressed its head briefly before turning back to the group assembled before him.

"But some of you..." His red eyes scanned the room and several people shivered slightly. "Failed to do so."

There was silence for a moment, but it seemed like an eternity. The man turned to a sallow-looking man. "Snape?"

"My Lord, I returned late to bring you news of Dumbledore. I hoped my failure to arrive on time would ensure my position as a spy for you." He bowed before taking a seat.

Voldemort laughed. "I know where your allegiances lie, Severus. The information you have given me has proven useful. The rest of you will pay for your mistakes."

Again silence fell on the group. No one moved, no one even dared to breathe.

"I have good news, however. One other returned, one more faithful under my control than under free will as with the rest of you." He waved his hand toward the door and it swung open. A woman stood in the doorway, her clouded eyes emotionless as she looked at Voldemort.

"Come here, pet."

She did as she was told. From his seat Snape watched, showing no hint of his surprise. Voldemort brought his hand up to caress the woman's cheek, his cruel voice nearly a whisper. "My control is as strong as ever."

The woman caught Snape's eye for the briefest of moments, and what he saw then did surprise him. Her eyes lost their gloss, but she remained emotionless. He raised an eyebrow ever so slightly before her eyes clouded again and she looked back to her master.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV - No News is Good News

It was a few days before Snape returned to number twelve, Grimmauld Place to reveal his findings. Everyone remained on edge, even the Weasley children who were not allowed to know the goings on of the Order. Dumbledore called the meeting together and by the time everyone was inside the dining room there were hardly enough chairs to seat them all.

"We have all been eager to hear of the Death Eater meeting, Severus," Dumbledore said.

Snape nodded. "The Dark Lord has reassembled those Death Eaters who did not respond to the Dark Mark with those that did, and his numbers are growing. He is not pleased with most of them, but I have seen a few faces from the Ministry of Magic."

Shacklebolt and Tonks glanced at each other.

"He still believes me to be faithful to him."

Dumbledore nodded, saying quietly, "Good, good."

"There is, however, one thing the Dark Lord revealed that we haven't seen before." Snape continued, putting everyone on edge again. "A weapon, I believe. A woman he says is under his control. One we believed to be dead." He glanced briefly from the old man to Sirius, Remus, and Rosemary, who sat together. Surprise grew on their faces, and Rosemary grasped Remus' arm.

"Calm down," Remus said quietly with a sideways glance at her.

She let go, sitting back a little anxiously. "Sorry."

Snape's gaze returned to Dumbledore. "I have no doubt he will use her to her full extent."

Dumbledore took a moment to say anything. "Thank you, Severus. I'll ask that you inform Tonks and Shacklebolt of the Death Eaters you mentioned." He looked to them. "Can you acquire plans of the Ministry building?"

"Yes, sir," Shacklebolt answered.

"Good."

The meeting was dismissed shortly after. Snape had a brief word with Dumbledore before leaving the house, as many of the other members did. Sirius headed out of the dining room without so much as a glance at his friends, who watched him with slight concern.

"Come down here," Mrs. Weasley called to her children and Hermione upstairs. "Time to start cleaning again." All at once a woman shrieked and began screaming terrible things at the top of her lungs.

"Not again, Molly!" Sirius said, and she apologized as the two hurried up toward the woman's portrait to stop the howling.

Rosemary caught Remus as they left the dining room. Her voice was hushed but urgent. "Do you think-"

"Yes, I think," he said gravely.

"Then she's alive- and Sirius-"

Remus sighed. "Talk to him if you like. I don't think he'll be too willing to listen considering how quick he was to leave the meeting."

"Well..." She looked down. "Snape said she's under _his_ control. What if- what if he-"

"Don't think about that. Any one of us could be next."

The woman made a nervous noise.

"I mean that she has as good a chance as any one of us."

"_But we're not exactly in his clutches, are we?_"

Remus looked past her suddenly, and Rosemary turned as well. A girl stood a little awkwardly nearby, the look on her face perhaps trying to silently tell them she hadn't heard any of the conversation.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Remus' concern was quickly replaced by a warm smile.

"Erm, Mrs. Weasley said to see if you'll come help us. We've been having a terrible time with one of the rooms on the second floor."

Rosemary sighed. "Yes, we'll be right up."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V - Lost and Found

It wasn't long after the meeting that the Advance Guard was sent to retreive Harry Potter from his aunt and uncle's house on Privet Drive. As soon as Harry got settled in, he started to help with the cleaning, much to Mrs. Weasley's relief. It was quite a job, and even with ten of them it was going to take a while.

It was Mrs. Weasley who happened on a curious thing when the childrens' return to Hogwarts neared, a glint of gold shoved in the corner of an old drawer, wedged in a crack that had started to rot. Carefully she pulled it out and dusted it off before noticing something inside of it, three sets of numbers spaced with a delicate dash. When she realized what it was, she took it immediately to Sirius.

He said a quiet thanks when she handed it to him; though they frequently argued over Harry there was no ill will between them. She nearly clasped her hand around his in apology before leaving to finish going through the drawer. He looked up to see his two friends pass by the door. They glanced in before stopping, catching the look on her face before she left the room.

Sirius stood there as if debating whether to show them or not.

"Mrs. Weasley asked where you were," Rosemary said as they stepped in. "She said she found something of yours. I guess she already brought it to you. What was it?"

"Something I lost a long time ago," he said, looking at his palm.

"Sirius... We'll get her back," Remus spoke up and Rosemary nodded. "Snape will keep watch-"

Sirius looked up at him. "I don't want to rely on _Snivellus_, Remus. He'd have me thrown back in Azkaban if he could. If Dumbledore would just let me go-"

"You know he won't. You're still-"

"A wanted man? I _know_. I don't care."

"Please, Sirius," Rosemary said, shaking her head. "Don't do anything rash. Dumbledore will come through. If you like, we can all go express our concern about leaving Snape in charge to him now."

Sirius seemed to brighten up at this, which was not quite what she had expected. Without a word he walked out of the room, slipping the object out of view. Remus and Rosemary glanced at each other before hurrying after him.

"That's not what I- wait!"

They arrived downstairs in time to see Sirius arguing his best with Dumbledore. Dumbledore, however, didn't seem fazed.

"But surely you can't expect me to trust-"

"I expect nothing of you, Sirius. Severus has proven himself loyal to us many a time."

"Loyal? He was right there- he could have done something!"

"And risk his life and our only source of information on Voldemort?"

"Better his life than hers!"

"I stand by my decision to leave you in charge of our headquarters and Snape in charge of watching her as well as Voldemort, Sirius. You are a good man, but rash-"

"Please, sir..." Rosemary stepped into the dining room with them; Remus reached to pull her back out but she slid her arm out of his grasp. "We all think that maybe there's more that could be done. Maybe not right away, but before... anything happened. If you could just consider it..."

Dumbledore turned to look at her, smiling slightly. "I will consider it. It will take time, but we may discuss it at the next meeting." With that he turned and left.

Remus entered the dining room as Sirius took a seat with a huff and Rosemary sat next to him. Remus sat across from them. For a while none of them spoke.

"He _will_ consider it, Sirius," Rosemary said quietly, catching a glint of gold on his finger. "We don't have to like Snape, but like it or not Dumbledore trusts him. Maybe it'll come up in the next meeting and then we can vote on it."

A throat cleared in the doorway, and the three of them looked over. It was Harry. He stood there, clasping a piece of paper in his hand.

"Harry," Sirius said invitingly. Harry walked to him.

"I was wondering if you could tell me-" He held out the paper to Sirius. "Who this is. Profess- Moody started muttering and wouldn't say."

Sirius looked at the paper, and the other two leaned to see. It was a picture they had taken over fourteen years ago, when the Order of the Phoenix was first started. Many of the people in it died that year- including James and Lily, Harry's own parents. Sirius' eyes fell on the person to which Harry pointed. His face fell. Without looking at Harry, he got up and left the room, leaving Harry staring after him.

"Why did he leave? Who-"

The other two caught a glimpse of the picture and at each other. Rosemary nodded briefly, and Remus looked back to Harry. "That woman beside Sirius in the photo... That was Lauren, a very good friend of ours, and of your dad's. She is also Sirius' wife."

"Is?"

"Was," Remus corrected himself. He glanced at Rosemary, not sure how much he could say. She gave the slightest of shrugs. "We believed her to be dead, years ago."

"Taken," Rosemary interjected quietly. "Which is worse, really?"

"So on his finger-"

"His wedding ring, yes." Remus smiled. "All of our cleaning has done some good. Now, if you'll excuse us, Harry, we have secret matters to discuss." He gave a nod and Harry headed back out, picture in hand.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter VI - Determination

Sirius made his way out of the dining room and up the staircase, his pace quickening slightly as he neared the second floor. This was all too much to handle- first, the return of the man responsible for his wife's disappearance, then the report from Snape that she was alive and under Voldemort's control, Dumbledore refusing to let him do anything about it, Mrs. Weasley finding the ring he had hidden years ago, Moody showing Harry the picture of the original Order and Harry asking him who she was-

A quiet, snide voice broke through his thoughts.

"Sent to your room again, Black?"

Sirius turned to see Snape on the edge of the shadows that settled in the corridor. The slightest hint of a smirk sat on his face, amusement glinting in his eyes.

"Shut it, Snivellus, or so help me..." Sirius turned back toward the stairs again, taking a few steps up. He didn't have time for this.

"I can't image you'd have anything to do that would need helping."

Sirius turned back toward him quickly, advancing down the steps again. "Oh, and you're doing _such_ a good job. Poor Snape, it must be so hard to grovel at Voldemort's feet, and I can't _imagine_ what it's like to have to play both sides-"

Snape's voice hardened. "You can't comprehend the power the Dark Lord has. You wouldn't last one-"

"The Dark Lord, is it," Sirius asked a little louder. "And you claim it's a cover? I don't care what Dumbledore thinks, I don't trust you."

"Clearly Dumbledore has more sense-"

"I don't trust you in my house and I certainly don't trust you with her!"

Suddenly, ghastly howling filled the house. The men looked down the stairs as a woman's voice tore through the air. "TRAITORS AND THEIVES, VERMIN SPREADING THEIR FILTH-"

Sirius' anger turned to the portrait that screamed at the top of her lungs. "SHUT UP, WOMAN!" From somewhere downstairs Mrs. Weasley hurried to silence the portrait, glancing briefly upwards to see Sirius and Snape.

"Either way, I'm the only connection you have to your dear wife," Snape said coolly. "If you can think of another way to get her back, by all means tell Dumbledore. I would love to see you take on the Dark Lord."

Before Sirius could say anything, Harry came into view on the staircase; Snape took the opportunity to slip away into the darkness as Harry's eyes met Sirius'. Sirius managed a smile, glancing at the picture the boy still clutched in his hand. Harry, who had heard the voices rising as he left the dining room but couldn't make out the words, looked a little puzzled.

"Professor Snape-"

"Snape oversteps bounds," the man interrupted as though that would explain it. His voice softened. "You wanted to know about the woman in the picture?"

Harry nodded. Sirius led him to a rather large door, which the man then opened before bowing. Harry glanced in past him to see a familiar face staring back at them. He bowed too and the hippogriff inside bowed in return before stepping up onto the bed inside. The two entered the room.

The size of the interior matched the door, a spacious closet taking up nearly an entire wall and a great four-poster, on which Buckbeak now sat, nearly blocking another wall from view. Harry closed the door behind them as Sirius made his way to the wardrobe. He picked up a picture slowly, looking at it a moment.

"Her name was Lauren," Sirius started, his gaze still on the picture. "We were at school together, the five of us. Six, later, when Peter came into the picture." He held it out slightly for Harry to see. In it were several people and a sofa; he noted them as he watched. Remus, Rosemary, Peter, Lauren, and Sirius crammed together on the seats, obviously still moving and trying to fit while James lounged on the back, looking amused. Suddenly, Lauren moved to Sirius' lap, and they nearly fell off the couch together.

Sirius laughed once. "We kept in touch after Hogwarts. It was much like it is now; you stayed close to those you trusted, especially with Voldemort on the rise. The seven of us, your mother included, helped form the Order of the Phoenix. Your parents, and Lauren and I, married shortly after. It was a double wedding, but that sort of thing was common, marrying so quickly after one another. Nobody was taking a chance of waiting."

"I moved out of your parents' house and into this house." There was a hint of distaste in his voice as he said the last two words, but it disappeared quickly. "Lauren made it bearable."

He sighed. "Then you were born. James and Lily made us your godparents."

"Godparents? Nobody ever mentioned a godmother."

Sirius nodded, looking up at him. "I'm getting to that. James insisted we be your godparents. Said that if anyone was to take care of his son besides them, it would be us."

"But you didn't."

He nodded again. "It wasn't long after you were born that she was taken." There was a pause. "Everything was terror back then, nobody trusted anyone and even among friends there was a level of distrust. Even with all of us. We were sure she was-"

Harry waited, but Sirius didn't continue. "Professor Lupin told me."

Sirius looked at him a moment. "Nearly a year after that, you became the Boy Who Lived, and I discovered Peter's betrayal. I knew- it had been him all along. He was the reason she was gone- or worse- and the reason your parents had been killed. I was intent on killing him myself, but... Well, you know the rest."

"Sirius... when Professor Lupin told me that she was your wife, he corrected himself."

Sirius' interest grew slightly. "What do you mean?"

"He said... she _is_ your wife, and then said she _was_. Is there a possibility that she's still... alive?"

Sirius took a moment to answer, but lowered his voice when he did so. "She is. Voldemort has her under his control."

"Like the Imperius curse?"

"Not exactly," Sirius said. "Somehow he's got her under his control, but we're not sure how yet. But don't worry about that. I'm going to do everything I can to get her back."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter VII - Interrogation

"Let's try this one more time..." The man looked up from where he had fallen to see an unearthly figure stepping into the light. He spoke quietly, but the man knew there was nothing quiet about him. "Where is the prophecy?"

The man opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out. Terror held him captive, unarmed and staring what he was sure was his death in the face. As if instinctively he pawed at the floor, searching for the wand he knew had already been snapped, but he couldn't bring his eyes away from the one person he knew and feared simply by name. There was a pause from Voldemort as he raised his hand and motioned to the shadows.

"Come here."

The darkness around them began to move and shift here and there as people, cloaked in black and masked, shuffled to let one figure through. Unlike the others, this one wore no mask- the man was nearly surprised to see a woman before him. Both the woman and Voldemort stared at him as Voldemort spoke again, his voice chilling the man to the bone.

"Show our guest how we end conversations with the noncompliant."

The woman pulled a wand out of her sleeve and, without so much as a word, flourished it in the man's direction. For a moment excruciating pain ripped through his body, before it was extinguished. Voldemort had taken out his wand and stopped her. It was then that the man heard the last two words he knew he'd ever hear.

"Kill him."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter VIII - Dark Arts

It was just past lunchtime when Harry made his way downstairs, ignoring a loudly-muttering Kreature along the way. Ron and Hermione had done nothing to improve his mood and it seemed the only one giving him the slightest bit of information was Sirius, so he made the decision to spend a little more time with his godfather before having to leave for Hogwarts. At the very least it might make Sirius feel better as well- Harry knew he was having a hard time staying here while everyone else in the Order of the Phoenix contributed in some meaningful way. He caught the sound of voices as he entered the dining room, one of which he was happy to note as his godfather's.

"What are you talking about? You're the scruffiest out of all of us- and you've still got the fleas, too."

"I'd like to see you go through what I've had to endure and come out of it without fleas," Sirius said. There was a moment of silence.

"Technically, you had fleas before-"

"You're not helping, Remus."

"Come to think of it," Rosemary said with a grin. "Your fleas conveniently show up only when you're covered in fur. Why is that?"

"Er..." All three heads turned to see a very confused looking Harry standing in the doorway.

"You've noticed that, haven't you, Harry," Rosemary asked, smiling brightly. Harry didn't answer, but instead looked to Remus for an explanation.

"They're discussing their Animagus forms," he said. "Or perhaps 'insulting' is a better word for it."

Harry's expression changed as he looked to Rosemary again. "You had an Animagus form too?"

"Yeah, mine is a grey wolf. I was fortunate enough not to get fleas with it." She shot Sirius an innocent smile.

"The flea joke never gets old," he said flatly.

Harry smiled. "Anyone else I know have an Animagus form?"

Rosemary counted off on her fingers. "Mine's a grey wolf, Sirius' is a flea-ridden dog, as you know, James was a stag, Peter was a rat, no surprise there, and Lauren-" she paused as if contemplating how to explain it. Harry glanced again at Sirius, whose smile had become a little forced. "Aha, wolf on stilts."

"What?"

Sirius gave a small snicker as Remus translated. "She means a maned wolf. Tall, red and black, almost looks like a fox... 'Wolf on stilts' is an old inside joke of sorts."

Harry still looked as though he had no idea what they were talking about but wouldn't ask any more questions on the matter. Rosemary glanced down to check her watch and Sirius shook his head. "It's something you would have to see to understand."

Rosemary looked up at Sirius and said quietly, "We don't have long now. Hopefully your favorite person has something of use this time."

Harry started to ask, but decided perhaps it wasn't the best thing. Remus nodded understandingly at him. "Order matters, Harry."

"Can't I stay," he asked, his gaze wandering to Sirius. "just a little longer?"

For a moment Sirius seemed to give in, but quick as it had appeared it left and his face hardened. "Mrs. Weasley will have a fit if she finds out you were here so close to a meeting."

"Er... I'll just be going," Harry said, a dejected note clear in his voice.

The trio said nothing more before the first Aurors arrived, Mad-Eye Moody among them. In a little less than half an hour nearly every member of the Order, including the eldest of the Weasleys, was once more piled into the dining room. As usual, Dumbledore was one of the last to arrive, with Snape arriving soon after him. Dumbledore took his usual seat and the meeting commenced, but it was Snape's report once more that had everyone on the edge of their seats.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, his voice as calm as ever, almost casual. "There was a Death Eater meeting recently?"

"Yes," the sallow man answered. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named captured a Ministry worker, one particularly close to Fudge."

"There was a disappearance," Tonks broke in. "The Ministry covered it up."

Snape's eyes trailed to the younger woman and he paused for a moment.

"He was asking for something but remained too quiet to tell what it was. Naturally, I suspect something inside the Ministry itself."

Dumbledore nodded. "Was Lauren present?"

"Yes. She conducted the murder herself. There is something else of interest, Professor. She was wearing a necklace."

"A necklace?"

"One I believe is _important_," Snape emphasized the last word ever so slightly.

There was a pause from Dumbledore.

"Yes, thank you, Severus," he said finally. "Alastor, your report, if you will?"

Several other members gave their reports and assignments were adjusted here and there, but nothing more was said on the subject of Lauren. The meeting ended soon after, leaving Dumbledore to linger a little longer than everyone else.

Snape remained in his seat for a moment before standing to address the older man. "Professor," he said quietly, glancing to Rosemary, Remus, and Sirius, who had also chosen to stay behind. "The necklace- I believe it to be of great importance. It's highly improbable that the Dark Lord would simply give her such a trinket if it were not."

"Can you describe it?"

"She wore it inside her robes last time, I'm sure. I remember seeing the chain during the first meeting. This time, however, it was in plain view. The pendant was large, almost certainly some ancient heirloom."

"And the stone itself?"

"As red as blood."

Slight concern washed over Dumbledore's face for the briefest of moments and he looked as though he was thinking intensively. "Thank you, Severus. We'll await your next report."

Sirius stepped forward from where he had been listening quietly as Snape exited the room. "We're just going to wait for another report?"

Dumbledore turned to look at him. "Yes, Sirius."

Tension was clear in his voice. "Anything could happen in that time. Snape-"

"As I've said before-"

"I'm beginning to question just how much you're actually concerned about this, Dumbledore."

The old man paused a moment, watching him before speaking. "I do care, Sirius." Sirius gave a little scoff. "You shouldn't presume to know how I feel on this."

"Well, you're not doing a very good job of sh-"

Dumbledore cut him off with a raised hand, his voice quieter than it had been before. "Lauren was a very dear student of mine, and that still holds true today. I fear the delicacy of this situation more than you know. If anyone were to attempt anything so early, regardless of our other plans and anyone else's safety, she would be in far more danger than she's in right now. To Voldemort, she is an asset."

Sirius interrupted. "And when she's no longer important to him?"

"We will have her before things get to that."

For a moment Sirius seemed only somewhat satisfied, but it became clear that it wasn't quite enough for him. "I suppose I'll be expected to sit back as usual, and continue to trust her in _his_ hands."

A small crease formed in Dumbledore's brow. "You know the enormous risks that would cause just you, Sirius. Imagine the risks it would cause the Order."

But Sirius would have nothing of it. He was already turning, briskly walking out of the room. Remus, who had been quietly listening aside Rosemary, sighed and, with a brief look her way and a short shake of his head, headed after him. Rosemary started to follow in tow before Dumbledore's voice stopped her.

"Miss DiNozzo," he said, and she turned back his way.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Hogwarts is short an Ancient Runes professor this year. Would you be so kind as to take up the position?"

A little confused at this offer, she nodded. "Yes, sir, if you'd like... But-"

He smiled. "I am in need of someone to attend meetings in my absence, and report information to me. With the Ministry's increase in pressure on me this year-"

"No need to explain, Professor." She said with a slight smile. "I'd be happy to." With that she left the room to find Sirius and Remus.

She found Remus standing outside the door to the master bedroom, looking a little stressed. "Sirius," she could hear him say as she ascended the stairs. "There's not much good pouting will do."

"There's not much not doing anything will do, either," came the muffled answer. Somewhere just on the other side of the door, Buckbeak squawked.

"Is he being difficult?" Rosemary asked quietly, approaching Remus where he stood outside the door.

"No more than usual."

She sighed and knocked at the door. "Sirius? Please open the door. Maybe we can think of something that'll help, and Dumbledore will act sooner."

There was silence for a moment.

"Did Remus tell you to say that?"

"No- look, if you open the door we can talk better. If you don't like what we come up with, you can close the door and we'll come get you when dinner's ready."

There was another moment of silence, and Remus took a moment to mutter to Rosemary. "What are you doing? You heard Dumbledore, there's _nothing_ we can-"

"Shh, maybe we can get him to stop this. Obviously your method isn't working, is it?"

Before he could answer there was the sound of footsteps in the room beyond, and then the door creaked open. Half of Sirius' face peered through at them. "What?"

"We'd better take this somewhere private," Remus interjected, glancing around.

"Can we come in?"

Sirius was quiet a moment, looking at them. Finally he opened the door fully. "Watch out for Buckbeak."

The pair entered the large room with him and he closed the door behind them, eyed by the hippogriff reclining on the bed. Buckbeak glared at them with a single golden eye before shifting slightly away and closing it again. Sirius took a seat next to the creature on the bed, while Remus perched on a chair nearby and Rosemary opted for the floor in front of them.

"Just like old times, eh?" she said with a grin, but it was soon lost on them. The grin slid from her face and she cleared her throat. "So... Snape said she was wearing a necklace, right? And that he thought it was important? Maybe that's how he's controlling her?" She looked to Remus for clarification.

He nodded. "Sounds right. I think that's what Snape's thinking- even if it's not exactly right."

"We can't exactly walk up to Voldemort and ask why she has it, so if we're going to do anything we're going to have to guess." Sirius said.

"Alright," Rosemary looked back to Sirius and motioned a little with her hands. "Let's say it's got some sort of enchantment on it. It's probably a dark one, knowing You-Know-Who. Since we don't know any..."

"That doesn't help at all," Sirius concluded.

"No..." Remus said, his brain beginning to follow where she was going and formulate a solution. "We just haven't learned any yet."

Sirius shot him a look. "You want to learn the dark arts? Weren't you a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for a reason?"

Rosemary stifled a snicker, and Remus shook his head. "No, we don't have to _learn_ any, just what they are and what they do- and how to break them. We won't be able to do anything outside of that ourselves, of course, but maybe if we present anything we find to Dumbledore-"

"-he'll agree to act sooner and we'll get her back," Rosemary finished with an excited clap of her hands. "Remus, you're brilliant."

Sirius seemed to think on this, but answered with a slightly skeptical, "but where are we going to learn about the dark arts? _Snivellus_?"

"We... haven't thought that far yet."

Rosemary sighed. "Well, I think we'd better start as soon as we can, I won't be here much longer."

They looked at her. "Why not?"

"Dumbledore asked if I'll teach Ancient Runes. And, you know, fill him in on any meetings he might not be able to make it to. I think I might be able find out some information from whatever Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is there this year."

Remus shook his head. "I doubt it. Even if the professor knew anything, we'd be risking letting someone outside of the Order know what's going on, or they would suspect you're up to something."

"Why not just use the Restricted Section?"

They both looked at Sirius. "That's actually pretty smart, Sirius," Rosemary said. "Alright, so while I'm there I'll look through the Restricted Section for anything I find and I'll tell you when I get back anything that looks at all important. But then, if there's nothing... We might need an outside source on the dark arts. We can't just go waltzing up to a Death Eater- well, we _could_..."

"I've got a library, I think. I never even touched the door since Lauren and I moved in, but I'm sure she didn't clean everything out and my parents were such Voldemort fanatics that I wouldn't doubt that they had books on the dark arts."

Rosemary got to her feet. "Let's go find this library and see if we can't get inside." Sirius grabbed his wand from the dresser and the three of them left the room together.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter IX - Searching

The trio made their way to the ground floor quietly, careful not to wake the sleeping portrait of Sirius' mother, just past the door to the dining room and into a pair of large doors that squeaked quietly from the lack of recent use. Inside was a room much larger than Sirius' room, with several armchairs scattered about and shelves that extended almost onto the ceiling. Books were set precisely in the shelves, as though someone had taken care to arrange them neatly many years ago. They held over a decade and a half of dust, and cobwebs blanketed those that were topmost and crept along the ceiling like a spreading disease.

"Well," Rosemary said, looking around. "Let's all start in the same spot in case there are any jinxes on these books."

Sirius nodded. "I wouldn't put it past my parents to own jinxed books- or to jinx them."

They walked to the lefthand side of the room, looking at the covers that Kreature had failed to reach and properly clean. The titles were faded and many of them were peeling from the covers. Remus wiped the dust from a book with _Curse_ in the title and picked it off the shelf.

"Be careful," Rosemary warned, and he opened the book. To their surprise, nothing happened. Remus turned to the title page, which was turned yellow and crisp with age, and then to the table of contents.

"Anything?" Sirius asked, peering over into the book.

"We won't know for sure until we read it," Remus answered. "We might as well start the search."

Sirius and Rosemary each grabbed a book from the shelf nearby the one Remus had, and then each took a seat in a less-than-clean armchair. It was quiet for a while as each opened their chosen book and began to scan. And then, there was a creak at the door. They all froze and looked up.

A siamese cat slipped through the door, her bright blue eyes shining against the dark mask of her face. She looked up at Sirius and lifted her tail, walking in as though she owned the house and the library in it. Sirius looked shocked.

"Kilala," Rosemary said, excitement clear in her voice. The cat walked to her, looking content.

"That thing's still alive?" Sirius asked. Kilala leaped into Rosemary's lap.

"Lauren would kill you if she wasn't," she said, stroking the cat's chin.

"She couldn't blame me if the cat died while I was in Azkaban."

Rosemary and Remus both stared his way.

"...Right. She'd find a way."

Rosemary grinned. "And if she does wind up dead or missing anytime after today I'm totally telling Lauren it's your fault when she gets back. Find anything yet?"

"No," Sirius said. Remus shook his head.

"Well... I think I smell dinner. We should eat and come back." She lifted the cat into her arms, who struggled a little before hanging limply and lashing her tail. Remus, too, got to his feet, setting his book open on a small table beside his chair.

"Are you coming, Sirius?"

Sirius' eyes had dropped to the book in his hands again. "No, I'll be out later."

Remus and Rosemary looked at each other briefly. "We'll bring you something," she said.

The pair left Sirius in the library, Kilala in tow as they headed for the dining room. The cat struggled a little more before leaping from her arms, looking a little ruffled as she walked away. They entered the dining room to see that it was still empty, so they began to set the table.

"Well," she said as she grabbed a few plates from the cabinet. "I think he may start being a little more sociable, or at least a little less grouchy. Now he's got something to do."

Remus nodded, setting napkins at each seat in turn. "And we may actually find something yet."

She set the plates on the table and turned for more. "Let's hope so. I don't like leaving her under the _watchful_ eyes of Snape either. Especially considering how much he hates us."

"And how much the feeling's returned."

"Sirius really doesn't trust him, you know."

"Sirius has never trusted him. Remember sixth year?"

"Mhm. That _was_ pretty stupid of Sirius, but... you know... Snape had it coming."

He shrugged a little and went for the silverware. "Maybe he did."

"I'm not saying I approve of it... Just that it was sort of to be expected, eventually. And now Snape's the only one with information." She set another plate down with a clatter. "I'll just be glad when this is all over."

"Won't we all?"

She sighed. "Yes." There was a sudden silence in the room as they finished setting the table and she took a seat. She looked briefly as though she was going to say something, searching for the words as she watched for him to sit as well, but he didn't.

"I'm going to see if Molly needs any help."

"Right. I'll... go check on Sirius." She rose to her feet again and walked out the door after him.

* * *

Within the next couple of days the Weasely children, Harry, and Hermione took their trip to Diagon Alley and Rosemary packed her things. There was very little time for anyone to search the library before the Hogwarts Express was scheduled to arrive at King's Cross station.

The commotion in the house at that time was incredible. All four Weasley children, Hermione, Harry, and Rosemary were all getting their things ready for the trip. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, as well as the entire guard were also bustling about. Sirius' mother was bellowing from her portrait.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said no!"

Mrs. Weasley's scolding went unheard through the din as Sirius walked to Harry's side, determined to see off his godson in his Animagus form if he couldn't do so any other way. They exited the house, leaving the screaming portrait behind, to meet Tonks on the corner. Rosemary grinned over at Sirius from her position near the rear of the procession and lowered her voice out of Mrs. Weasley's earshot.

"You just had to come, didn't you?"

The dog glanced back her way with a pant as he trotted at Harry's side, as if to say, 'of course? What else did you expect?'

"You're going to keep an eye on him while we're gone, right?"

She glanced over at Remus, who laughed slightly and muttered back, "He'll be a good dog."

They arrived at the station shortly after that. Each walked onto the platform in turn, and the train was already there, puffing away. As Tonks hugged Hermione and Ginny, saying her goodbyes, Moody ran the others through the precautions they were expected to take. Mrs. Weasley scolded Sirius again for jumping up as if to say goodbye to Harry and pushed the boy off toward the train, which was quickly boarding all of its passengers.

"I'll see you at the next meeting," Rosemary said, careful to keep her voice quiet amongst the people rushing around them. "Tell Padfoot I said good luck, Remus." With that she gave the dog a quick pat on the head and headed off to the train after the others. "I'll write!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter X - Suspicion

Pale porcelain hands grasped an equally white china platter as the woman approached the grand dining table. At it sat a single figure, statue-still even when the food was set in front of her. The woman's gaze trailed over the other, and she held her breath a moment before exhaling.

Voldemort had asked her to take this other woman in, this one she knew of as the wife of her cousin, Sirius Black. Of course, she could never say no to the Dark Lord, especially when it came to something like this. She knew that Voldemort was using this woman, controlled by the pendant at her neck, but the reasons weren't completely clear to her.

Nevertheless, she took her into her own home, and served her dinner off of her finest dishes. Narcissa took a seat across from her and began to eat quietly. Voldemort's complete control over this other human being chilled her completely- it was nothing like seeing the Imperius curse. The silence of her company almost unnerved her, but the thought of what might happen were she to send her away scared her far more than that. Narcissa watched carefully as Lauren grabbed her fork slowly, her face still as expressionless as ever, and began to eat.

A thought crossed Narcissa's mind and for a moment she was reminded of when Voldemort had first arrived with her. Narcissa didn't dare converse with Lauren with him around, but once he was gone she couldn't help the curiosity that overwhelmed her and she tried to elicit a conversation. To her surprise- or rather, as she expected- the other woman responded only by looking her way.

But that same curiosity and the need for some sort of sound overwhelmed her once again. She spun her fork between her fingers for a moment, her gaze returning to the others'. "How is it?"

As she expected there was no response. Lauren didn't even look up from her food. Narcissa sighed, the chill settling over her once more. She thought to put on some music to have at least some sound in the house, but couldn't bring herself to leave the table. Instead she opted for talking. Even if Lauren didn't listen, it might distract her from the woman's presence.

"It's Draco's favorite," she said carefully, as though the Dark Lord himself was just off in the other room. "He's just gone off to Hogwarts for his fifth year." She sighed, looking down at her plate. "Two more years and he'll be out on his own..."

Lauren continued to eat, oblivious to the words coming out of her mouth. If she just thought of it as herself sitting there alone, it made things slightly better. "Lucius insists I shouldn't worry, but how can I let my only baby...?"

Narcissa's words trailed off and she was suddenly all too aware of a gaze pressing on her. Her eyes trailed upward to see that Lauren had stopped eating and was staring her way. There was still no readable expression on her face, but there was something about her eyes... something... intelligent...

Narcissa dared herself to speak, watching the woman carefully. "Can you... hear me?"

As quickly as that intelligence had shown itself it was gone and the glazed expression washed over Lauren again as she returned to her food. As Narcissa continued her own meal silently she replayed it in her mind, wondering if she should dismiss it altogether or dare to alert Voldemort.

* * *

A/N: I'm not sure about my portrayal of Narcissa here. I've never written her before but I think she's possibly a little more like she is in the later books rather than how she'd be right now. If anyone has any input it's greatly appreciated!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter XI - Complications From the Ministry

The Sorting Hat finished its song in the Great Hall as it had every year since it was tailored, and the sorting began as it had every year since the school's founding. It was the Sorting Hat's song, however, that had every student whispering among themselves; this year's song was obviously not one they had ever heard before, nor one even most of the professors had ever heard. Nevertheless, the sorting commenced as it always had and might always do. Each house clapped its approval of each student's sorting in turn, and eventually every student in the Great Hall was placed at their respective house table.

It wasn't long before Dumbledore stood in front of them all, his arms spread wide in his customary welcome as he addressed the students and welcomed them to the feast. It was clear, however, that some students, three in particular, had already noticed the new professors at the table. Dumbledore waited until the end of the feast to introduce them each in turn.

"We have had three changes in staff this year," he announced. "We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, as well as Professor DiNozzo, who will be teaching Ancient Runes."

The applause was scattered and a little unenthusiastic, but still Dumbledore continued to speak. Rosemary took the chance to steal a glance at the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but she didn't have to look away again because Umbridge had gotten to her feet and Dumbleodore's speech had stopped.

As Umbridge thanked Dumbledore for the introduction in her sweet voice and most of the professors exchanged surprised looks, Rosemary thought again to Dumbledore's mention of the Ministry's increase in pressure on him. Indeed, it was clear that this Umbridge was with the Ministry of Magic and intended not only to keep an eye on the teaching and curriculum at Hogwarts, but, more importantly, on Dumbledore himself. As her speech continued and many students lost interest, an important piece of information came up. She would be would be changing the way things ran. Like many of the other professors, Rosemary glanced over at Dumbledore and wondered just how he would take this. There was also, of course, the thought that if the Ministry was watching his every move as it seemed they might, she would definitely be filling in for him in meetings this year.

As Professor Umbridge finished her speech and sat down again, Dumbledore and the rest of the staff clapped, though even among them the applause was scattered.

Dumbledore dismissed the students from the Great Hall after a few more words and they left eagerly, nearly everyone whispering and talking among themselves. The professors lingered, all eager to hear what Dumbledore might have to say to Umbridge concerning her announcement, or what might be said by her to the Headmaster considering her audacity just after the feast.

When it seemed neither would exchange conversation with the other, McGonagall spoke out. "Since when is the Ministry of Magic concerned with affairs at Hogwarts?"

Umbridge turned to her, a sickening smile sweeping across her froggy face. "The Ministry of Magic has always had a concern for the young minds of our future. As I said in my speech, Professor, the Ministry feels the need for a balance between innovations and traditional ways of teaching."

McGonagall didn't seem at all satisfied with that answer, pursing her lips in disapproval. "So the Ministry will be making changes, will they?"

"Yes..." she said, her smile widening. "Where necessary."

McGonagall moved her mouth to speak again, but Dumbledore interrupted brightly. "Let us all retire for the night. We've a busy year ahead of us."

Umbridge let out another soft, "Hem, hem," and left the Great Hall, humming a little to herself as she went.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter XII - Problems and Solutions

It was not long before Umbridge's tyrannical grip on the school began. Within a week she was made High Inquisitor through Educational Decree number twenty-four, and she began inspecting each professor during their classes. She made her way through each of the professors in turn, eventually arriving at Ancient Runes.

"Turn to page five seventy in your books, please, and translate the runes," Rosemary turned from the class before her toward Umbridge's patronizing smile. Umbridge clutched a clipboard to her chest and pulled out a quill.

"This is your first year teaching, is it not?"

"Yes," she answered, watching as Umbridge meandered toward her desk and inspected it casually.

"But your NEWT marks in Ancient Runes... You _hardly_ received Exceeds Expectations, correct?"

Rosemary turned a little red, glancing once at her students, some of which had begun to watch every now and then as they worked. "Professor Dumbledore felt it was sufficient enough to-"

"Hm," she made a mark on the clipboard and adjusted a few knickknacks on the desk. "And you are reluctant to hand out detentions?"

"My advanced students are very good about turning in their assigned work, and I haven't felt the need to give detentions for minor misbehavior." She paused and then fidgeted a little. "Please- don't- don't touch that."

Umbridge paused as well and looked back at her before making a few more notes and Rosemary took the chance to readjust the placement of the things on her desk again. "Dumbledore asked you to teach this year, didn't he?"

"Yes..."

The High Inquisitor's eyebrows raised slightly. "Even though you were involved in the disappearance of Lauren Black fifteen years ago?"

Rosemary froze, taken aback by this sudden question. Several students, one of which was Hermione Granger, were watching now, their quills lax in their hands as Rosemary turned defensively toward Umbridge. "I was not _involved_... _Professor_."

"High Inquisitor," she corrected, unfazed. "But you are friends with mass-murderer Sirius Black, are you not?"

"I _was_, when I was a student," she answered more confidently now as nearly the whole class had stopped writing to watch. "If you're trying to imply that-"

"Dear, dear," Umbridge said with a high-pitched laugh, making a few more notes. "I am trying to imply nothing." She turned and walked toward the door with a glance over her shoulder. "But as they say, truth will out."

With a sigh Rosemary took her seat at her desk, momentarily unaware of the class that sat frozen in front of her, their gazes settled on her.

"Professor," Hermione spoke up, and she looked up toward the fifth year. "I'm having difficulty with a translation."

She knew very well that Hermione was probably not having trouble with a translation, but got up anyway and walked to Hermione's desk before looking up at the others. "Is anyone else having trouble?"

Another two weeks went by before the Order of the Phoenix conducted another meeting. Dumbledore stayed behind at Hogwarts while Snape, McGonagall, and Rosemary left for Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Snape had nothing new to report on Lauren, except her new residence in Malfoy Manor. This information was not taken lightly by Sirius, who was barely kept content by the search in the library that he and Remus still continued.

As soon as the meeting was concluded, the three met again in the library.

"Have you found anything yet?" Rosemary asked, slipping in the doorway and closing it behind her quietly. Sirius returned to his armchair and picked up a book from a stack beside it, Remus following suit.

"Not yet," Sirius said, sounding slightly frustrated.

"Sirius has been looking almost all day, every day," Remus said under his breath so that only she could hear before raising his voice to a normal level. "We've still got a lot to go through, though. Have you had a chance to check the Restricted Section yet?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I'm sure you've been reading the _Prophet_?" They nodded. "Umbridge has been making it hard to get away from the usual things. She's High Inquisitor now, which means that she's been interrogating all of the professors. She's been watching us all like a hawk, in and out of the classroom."

"Interrogating?" Sirius asked.

Rosemary nodded. "She came into each class two weeks ago to inspect our teaching methods- you've read the paper- I might have to be careful about what I do, though. Some of the questions..."

She paused a moment, and they looked at her expectantly.

"She implied that I was involved in Lauren's disappearance, and that I'm still friends with 'mass-murderer Sirius Black'. I denied both, but I don't think it did much good."

Remus shook his head. "She's going to be dreadful no matter what you do, but denying it is a good start."

"I have a feeling that if I'm going to find anything in the Restricted Section I'll have to look soon."

"Good," Sirius interjected. "Let's just hope you have enough time to look properly."

"Yeah..."

"It would be wise to get a move on with the search," Remus said. "She'll do whatever she can to stop you if she gets even a hint that you're up to something, especially with how your inspection went."

"You'll have to wait to hear from me about it until the next meeting, though. I don't want to risk it, with the way the Ministry is intercepting owls."

They nodded, and Sirius spoke up again. "You could try the fire in your office if there's anything extremely important. They're not monitored yet."

Rosemary frowned. "How do you know they aren't?"

"I spoke with Harry recently."

"Through the fire? Sirius, what if someone saw you? You could put yourself in danger- you could put _Harry_ in danger."

"Relax, Remus," Sirius said, sounding a little irritated. "Ron and Hermione were the only others that saw, really. And they confirmed what we expected from Fudge. He's preventing them from learning defensive spells."

"Well," Rosemary broke in. "I'll try the fire one night if I find anything. Keep a good eye on it."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter XIII - Potions

The sound of bubbling liquid and soft hisses filled the room, and every so often the cauldron toward its center belched a plume of vapors. A man paced, stopping every now and then to peer down at the cauldron's contents and then add an ingredient to the concoction.

He had heard privately from Narcissa Malfoy that something strange had happened with Lauren Black, something extremely similar to what he thought he saw before. At the time he warned her to keep such a dangerous notion to herself, that the Dark Lord expected her to do as she was told, care for this woman whom he loathed so much, and not to go assuming something as simple as a look was anything Voldemort should be worried about. Deep down, however, the man knew this was something very important indeed.

He and the rest of the Order had decided to go on the notion that Voldemort was controlling her with the necklace she always wore, which meant that if it could be removed- provided that doing so didn't have a nasty effect such as killing the wearer- she might be able to be saved. There was, however, the problem of getting her to such a point in the first place. What better than a potion to dull the effects of whatever incantation was over her?

Despite his long-lived hatred for her and her friends, he decided to help. Not only could she be a great danger to Dumbledore and possibly the determining factor in who won this ever-quickening war, she could be a danger to Snape himself. If she knew that he was a spy for the Order and she was still under Voldemort's control, she could very well prove to be an extremely big problem.

But it was not only that thought that made him do what he was doing now. It wasn't that he owed her husband anything, either- quite the contrary, in fact. It was that somewhere in the recesses of his being he sought to right a wrong from over a decade ago.

As the potion in the cauldron belched one last time before simmering peacefully, he leaned over it once more. He reached for a vial nearby and filled it.

* * *

Severus Snape made his way into the Library, past hordes of students, some of which were already beginning to prepare for their end-of-term OWLs or NEWTs. A pair of first years pushed past him and he glared, but continued on his way toward a roped off section. With a wave of his hand he moved the rope aside and continued on into the dark shelves, intent on discovering what he could.

Past a shelf here, a turn at this stack, and he was there- at the potions section. But what he saw just past the potions intrigued him.

"DiNozzo," he said quietly, contempt clear in his voice. She turned and looked his way, looking a little startled.

"Sni- Snape," she said before returning to her search.

"Looking for something?"

She paused and turned again toward the shelf. "Yes, actually. If you'd be _so_ kind as to excuse me..."

"A bit of personal research, I presume?" A thin hint of a smirk curled his lips.

"Yes," she said, lowering her voice to barely above a mutter. "And I presume you know what about."

"I'd be careful about how much of your time you spend playing with schoolbooks rather than teaching- someone might grow suspicious."

Rosemary stopped again and stepped toward him, close enough for him to hear her harsh whisper. "I am here to teach, _Severus_. What I do in my free time is none of your concern, or anyone else's. Go away before I tell Dumbledore you're interfering in Order matters."

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Your lot has always been _so_ brave, hasn't it? Running to Dumbledore to handle your matters..."

"Oh- shut up!" She glared before grabbing a book from the shelf and storming out.

Snape took a calm step toward the shelf from which she had taken the book and inspected the two around it. They were both about curses, which naturally meant the one she had taken was about curses as well. He was slightly surprised. If Dumbledore knew what they were both up to he might suggest they collaborate. Of course, Snape had no intention of collaborating on this, at least not with her and _her lot_. A certain curiosity struck him, however. He wanted to know just what it was she thought she could accomplish by rifling through books in the Restricted Section.

But Snape headed for the section that held the potions books, the ones he initially came here to find, and turned his thoughts to the potion he was trying to develop.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter XIV - Sightings

October came quickly, and with it the chill of autumn swept through the castle. Dumbledore was keeping fires lit during dinner in the Great Hall, when the temperature dropped drastically upon nightfall. The first Hogsmeade weekend was announced, which heightened the moods of the students before Umbridge's disbanding of all student organizations two days later. Trelawney was forced to go on probation, adding to the stress of the other professors who could to very little to help the situation.

Harry, on the other hand, had taken the time to form what he and many other students had come to call "Dumbledore's Army," which met in the secrecy of the Room of Requirement. Outside of this sanctuary he was still receiving detentions and enduring the anger that so often overtook him, and it seemed the one thing that made him feel any better, outside of writing to Sirius, was the end of the day.

Harry sat in the fifth year Boy's Dormitory, watching out the window with little interest about what lay outside. Moonlight hung in the clouds above, and the trees of the Forbidden Forest below. A cool wind swept through the land, washing the moon with those clouds and rustling those trees in unison with a faint rushing.

It was between the treetrunks that Harry first spotted it- an orange _something_, vibrant against the dark scenery around it. It was low to the ground, he knew immediately, and it was soon clear when he sat up and watched with interest that it was four-legged. It wound its way here and there, head lowered, but facing the castle. And then, all at once it looked toward Gryffindor Tower- straight toward him.

Harry froze. The creature's gaze remained settled on him for a few more moments before trailing off to another part of the castle. Why wasn't it doing anything? Why was it just standing there, staring, like-

And then he heard the cry.

From around the castle's side swept a magnificent creature, its fiery-hued feathers striking an eerie glow in the moonlight. It descended rapidly toward the orange beast before alighting on the ground beside it. Harry was struck with the sudden realization that it was Fawkes.

Fawkes had left Dumbledore's office to meet down there with- with- whatever-that-was.

And then it hit him. Suddenly a picture of a fox flashed in his mind's eye, but no, that wasn't quite right. So he thought a bit on it, watching Fawkes and this thing far below, and raised that fox a little more off the ground, made it a little taller than he had imagined initially...

Harry threw on his Invisibility Cloak and left the dormitory in an instant, taking the Grand Staircase down until he reached the floor he needed. Through the corridor he went, past a few doors until he reached the one he was looking for. Stilling his breathing he pressed close to it before banging the knocker on it and took a step back.

A few moment later the door opened and out stepped a confused professor. Harry pulled the Cloak from his face and her eyes widened in surprise. "Harry- What-?"

"Professor DiNozzo. I wanted to ask you something."

"In the middle of the night? Hold on-" She stepped out and glanced around before opening the door to the classroom a little wider. "Come on in."

Harry walked inside and waited a moment before speaking again. "I know Sirius and Lupin know about my using my Cloak so you must too- Sirius said before that you did- anyway, I had a question."

She rubbed her face and nodded. "Go on..."

"Are there maned wolves in the Forbidden Forest?"

There was no answer for a few seconds.

"What?"

"Are there maned wolves in the Forest? I saw one just earlier; Fawkes flew down to it."

She blinked. "Fawkes...? Harry, go back to your dormitory."

"What? But Professor-"

"Harry, please go back to your dormitory." She was already heading to the door, opening it. "I don't want to catch you sneaking out again, either. Go back and I'll tell you what I can tomorrow."

He watched her leave the room, headed straight to Dumbledore.

"Professor!" Rosemary pushed through the door into Dumbledore's office, looking as though she had rushed this entire way. "Headmaster, I think we need to look into the Forbidden Forest as soon as possible. Wait- why are you awake?"

Dumbledore looked up from his desk and smiled. "Professor DiNozzo, what a delightful surprise. Although I dare not say it's _too_ delightful, considering your sudden entrance and the look on your face. Alas, it was Fawkes that awakened me, and as you can see he's yet to return from wherever he's gotten off to."

"Prof- Dumbledore-" she said, leaning on his desk and trying to catch her breath. "Harry just showed up at my door to tell me that he saw a maned wolf in the Forbidden Forest. With Fawkes."

"A maned wolf? With Fawkes?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore stood slowly and seemed to think this over for a moment. "Did he say where he saw it?"

She shook her head. "No. Should we do something?"

He turned and walked to a window, looking out on the land before him. "Fetch Minerva and Severus, if you will. Is Harry still in your office?"

"N-no, I sent him back to his dorm-"

"Good. If you would be so kind as to leave any further information from his knowledge..."

She nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll get Professor McGonagall and Snape." With that she left to fetch the others.

* * *

In the depths of the Forbidden Forest, a ghostly hound slunk through the shadows, a mist following it as it went. There was something new here, something it didn't recognize. Curiosity and the need to protect its haunt drove it to seek out the intruder.

In a matter of seconds it sensed the intruder and closed the distance between them. Its sightless eyes followed the strongest point of the sensation almost like radar, and through the trees an orange-and-black figure walked. Intent on scaring this creature away, the gytrash approached.

But it was an action it would soon regret, for the sensation intensified and the mist around it became drawn toward this living thing in a way that it had never experienced before. It was almost a magnetic pull, as though the other canine was sucking the very essence out of the gytrash.

With a shriek the gytrash pulled from the other creature, fleeing from the evil that emanated from it. There was something not natural about it, and the gytrash could tell.

* * *

"Keep an eye on the grounds." Dumbledore's soft voice filled the otherwise silent room. "Voldemort's control still stands, and we cannot assume she is in any way freed of it, even here."

McGonagall's face bore concern. "And the students?"

"I will announce the closing of the grounds tomorrow morning, and we will keep our eyes on the goings on throughout the castle."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter XV - Into the Forest

The following morning, Harry left Gryffindor tower with the previous night's happenings still fresh in his mind. There was definitely something going on concerning what he saw at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. What did this have to do with Fawkes, he wondered? And why was it that he was yet again being left out on the information? Determined to find something out, he turned to Ron and Hermione and told them what he knew.

"A maned wolf?" Hermione asked quietly as they made their way toward the Great Hall. "They're definitely not indigenous. I don't know, Harry, going out there doesn't sound like a good idea."

"But Fawkes was there. I don't think its dangerous, whatever its doing-"

"Harry."

Harry turned to see Rosemary just past a few other students on the landing just below.

"May I speak with you?"

"Er, yes, Professor." With a quick glance to Ron and Hermione, Harry stepped out of the flow of students to meet her, and followed to the Ancient Runes class. Once inside, she closed the door, careful to make sure Umbridge was nowhere nearby.

"Harry, what you saw in the forest last night..."

"You can't tell me." It was obviously a statement rather than a question, and she hesitated once more, regret clear in her voice.

"No... but I think you're smart enough to figure it out. I want you to promise me one thing." She lowered her voice. "That you won't tell Sirius. And be careful with the fires- anyone could see you talking in the common room."

"Why shouldn't I-"

She shook her head. "Just don't, _please_. It could put him in a lot of danger."

It was then that Harry was certain that this had something to do with what Sirius told him of Lauren. "Yes, Professor."

She sighed and watched him a moment before turning away, seemingly satisfied with that. Harry watched her head to the Great Hall for breakfast as Ron and Hermione approached once more.

"I think I know what's going on," Harry said before turning to them.

* * *

The Great Hall was alive with the clamor of students eager for the morning's meal. As though this morning and the previous night's events were nothing out of the ordinary, Dumbledore rose from his seat at the High Table and tapped his goblet. Though much quieter than the noise of the students before him, the sound seemed to resonate throughout the hall and everyone quieted, turning to look his way.

"I would like to congratulate you all on a term well done," he said, ever calm in the quiet that enveloped the room. "We stand on the cusp of the Christmas holiday, and all that stands before us is this last month before you will all return to your homes for a well-deserved break." Dumbledore paused a moment to arrange the silverware around his platter.

"I regret to inform, however, that before we let ourselves run amok in anticipation of the holidays the grounds will be closed to all students without a professor present."

Before him students looked at each other, unsure as to whether this meant something was going on outside of their knowledge or not, as it seemed to have been doing these past few years. Harry watched the Headmaster and he thought he saw him look to Harry for the briefest moment.

"Hogsmeade will be open for a short amount of time to allow you all to do your shopping, and thus far Quidditch will not be affected. Should you absolutely require a trip onto the grounds, I ask that you first notify your Head of House."

Harry watched Dumbledore take his seat again but was too busy turning to speak with Ron and Hermione to notice Umbridge's careful studying of the Headmaster at the High Table.

"This has got to be connected," Harry said in a low voice. "We need to find out what's going on tonight."

"Harry," Hermione said warningly before dropping off altogether with a sigh. "I suppose you're not going to be convinced out of this, are you?"

"Of course not," Ron interjected with a glance Harry's way.

"If even you won't tell me at least something, I can still find out for myself." They looked at him a little guiltily. "We'll go out under the Invisibility Cloak tonight. I want to know who was out there with Fawkes."

That night the three of them ventured out under the Invisibility Cloak toward the Forbidden Forest, dodging Filch along the way.

"I don't see what this has to do with Sirius," Hermione whispered as they walked in the moonlight.

"Sirius was married; his wife disappeared after I was born. Professor DiNozzo asked me not to tell him about what I saw. She said before the term that his wife was an Animagus-"

"You think it's her?" Ron asked.

"It has to be. But what does she have to do with Fawkes?"

"I don't know, Harry. I thought she was missing."

"She was," he said, a little impatiently. "She's under Vol-"

"Harry, look!"

Through the trees they saw a flash of orange, brilliant in the shadows against the black of the forest. It moved away from them with some haste, and Harry found himself throwing aside the Cloak and quickening his pace after it.

"Wait!" It was Hermione's voice as the other two threw the cloak off themselves and followed, pulling out their wands.

Harry followed the flash of color through the trees, catching glimpses here and there but never really seeing anything more than a flash. There was no purpose, seemingly, to the figure's path. He could hear Ron and Hermione behind him, catching up; it was then that he realized perhaps it was leading him, deeper into the forest to where the centaurs dwelled, or perhaps straight to Voldemort himself-

Suddenly there was a flash of grey off to his right and he turned, expecting to see one of the towering centaurs fast approaching. Instead a large canine met him with a snarl, rushing forward briefly before seeming to stop. Harry pulled his wand out and took a few quick steps backward as his friends met him, their own wands drawn. As quickly as it appeared the wolf pushed its way into the underbrush out of sight, leaving the three of them to regroup into a circle, their backs to each other.

The wolf again emerged from the darkness but slower this time, its teeth still bared. It didn't approach except in jerky, nervous steps, hesitating in whatever attack it might have planned.

"Why isn't it doing anything?" Ron asked. "It doesn't look orange to me."

"This isn't what I saw. It's-" Harry stopped, unsure as to how to end that. Surely it wasn't a werewolf; certain features were wrong, and besides, it wasn't the full moon-

The wolf gave an agitated glance briefly into the forest where Harry had last seen the other figure, then approached Harry once more.

"Harry?" Hermione asked nervously, wand pointed at the wolf. Harry didn't answer.

_Go back. Don't be stupid, just turn back..._

A little more urgently this time: "Harry?"

_So help me, if I have to give you detention for the rest of the year I will. God, you really are your father's son._

The wolf's snarling continued, and it took another step toward him.

"Harry, there's nothing here. We should go back, _now_."

With that Harry took a step backwards, and then another, waiting for the wolf to advance. It didn't until he took the third step. There was something about it, something that wasn't making sense...

Another step back. Five more. Ron and Hermione followed, and still the wolf took another few steps, but it wasn't snarling as much now.

_That's it..._

"The Cloak- here." Harry threw it over the three of them and the wolf turned its head briefly as the trio retreated further into the forest, seeming to lost interest in them for a moment before taking a few tenative steps in their direction, nose twitching.

"It can smell us," Ron whispered. "I had garlic at dinner-"

"Shh, let's just go. If Dumbledore knew we were out here..."

The wolf followed to the edge of the forest, nose still lifted to catch their scent on the air, which faded presumably as the trio made their way back into the castle. With a huff the wolf turned back to the forest again, searching for a different scent.

* * *

Breen knew she had been specifically instructed to keep an eye on the castle and that Dumbledore probably wouldn't be happy if he knew that she had gone into the Forbidden Forest against his orders, but she had to find the maned wolf. At the very least this rulebreaking had saved Harry and his friends- or so she hoped. She had done her best to motivate them to go back to the castle and not pursue her friend further into the forest, just as she was doing now. The danger to Harry and his friends here was great, not only with the centaurs whom Umbridge had been upsetting as of late.

At the same time, however, she couldn't reveal that she knew where they were for fear of Dumbledore finding out her own insubordination. Would she be sacked for it? Would he order her back to Grimmauld Place to help Sirius, and leave Snape to watch after Harry and fill in at Order meetings where the Headmaster could not? Even worse, what would Umbridge do if she knew about any of this? An unregistered Animagus would go straight to Azkaban.

With a sigh the wolf paused, listening. There was no sound now of the other wolf, that best friend she called Tyra, her friend's wife. At least it was she out here and not him. Had Padfoot come here he might have been recognized by Harry, who would have only followed him deep into the forest in pursuit of Tyra.

Now, though, Tyra's scent had gone, mixed with the wind that played through the forest and placing Breen upwind of where the other had disappeared. Surely Tyra could smell her from here, and perhaps it was a good sign that she had not been attacked by now. They had no real way of knowing just what Tyra had been instructed by Voldemort or what she might do even to her own friends, whether here in her Animagus form or out in the world as a witch.

With that knowledge she turned for the castle herself and made her way inside.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter XVI - Sirius Suspicions

A month passed from the time Harry sighted Lauren in the Forbidden Forest, and Fawkes frequently left the safety of Dumbledore's office to land somewhere therein. The staff was increasingly interrogated into the reasoning behind Dumbledore's decision to close the grounds to students. As the Christmas holiday neared visits to Hogsmeade were monitored right under her nose by various professors. Still, however, no further sightings of the maned wolf were reported.

Harry, however, had set his mind to the task of piecing the puzzle together without the help of his friends, who had too often followed Dumbledore's orders not to tell him anything. How that infuriated him- he was beginning to feel as though he ought to just end the old man right then and there. These emotions unsettled and confused him, but still he tried to make sense of things as DA meetings were conducted and Umbridge made yet another decree. So far he had figured that the maned wolf he saw in the Forbidden Forest was indeed the Animagus of Lauren Black, and he had a strong hunch that the other wolf he had seen was Professor DiNozzo.

She hadn't confronted him about it but the thought was still there, in the back of his mind. Of course, if he confronted her instead, she could easily give him detention for not obeying Dumbledore's orders and he might be left out of everything altogether.

That wasn't the most unsettling of happenings, however. On the night of the term's final DA meeting, Harry had a dream more disturbing than any he had in a while. He went immediately to Dumbledore, who found that Mr. Weasley had been attacked and was in St. Mungo's. All thoughts of Animagi were pushed from his head as he confronted the possibility that there was something deeply wrong with him.

Together with the Weasleys, Harry returned to Grimmauld Place, where at least he would be able to see Sirius for the holiday. Sirius seemed eager to see him, eager to talk in the two days that followed. Though the Weasleys were all rather upset with the recent happenings and with Sirius' handling of them, he seemed to leave behind the reluctance to be social that he had before the term had started, at least for the spirit of their return.

Harry discovered in this time, however, the truth behind his dream of Mr. Weasley. Did this have something to do with Sirius' wife? Could it be that she had been _watching_ him from the forest that night? Maybe in going into the forest, then, he was putting himself right were Voldemort wanted him. Maybe Voldemort had been waiting for him there, wherever she had disappeared off to...

Harry withdrew from everyone with these thoughts, even Sirius, by the time Hogwarts let out for the holiday. With the return of Hermione to Grimmauld Place as Christmas arrived he was back to feeling better. Throughout the holiday he found his mood lighter, especially since Sirius seemed to have brightened a little with the presence of everyone since the summer.

What Harry didn't know was that Sirius was indeed glad to have someone else in the house outside of Kreature, Lauren's cat, who had befriended Buckbeak, and Remus, who had taken again to treading lightly around him and trying to get him to stay put as instructed. In the days that passed then Sirius noticed a change in the way his friends discussed something among themselves and changed the subject as he made himself known. It was maddening to think that what they were discussing might pertain to Lauren, and he wasn't let in on it.

As Christmas day arrived and the Weasleys left the house with Harry and Hermione for St. Mungo's, Sirius found them talking again in the dining room.

"-you think that could have something to do with it?"

"Well, if Dumbledore isn't-"

"If Dumbledore isn't what?"

Remus and Rosemary turned to see Sirius standing in the doorway, looking as though he was carefully covering his agitation. He watched them, awaiting an answer.

"It's nothing, Sirius, just school matters concerning Um-"

"Don't give me that rubbish, Remus," he said, irritation clear in his voice. "I can see it in your face."

The other two fell silent, Rosemary looking from Remus to Sirius. She hesitated slightly. "Sirius... I found something in the Restricted Section."

He immediately moved to take a seat at the table beside them. Remus shot her a warning glance, and she looked back to Sirius again. "Well, I- I didn't take the book but I did take some notes." She produced a piece of parchment from her pocket which he took eagerly. The notes were almost illegible, scattered throughout the parchment, arrows and random ideas pointing to other sections of text.

"I found it a while ago but I had to work it out in my head before risking passing the information to you from Hogwarts, which, well..."

"Takes a while." Sirius' tone was flat, as though he wasn't quite convinced that this was what they were hiding so intently from him.

She nodded and waited for him to scan through the notes until he was satisfied, or had something to say. Of course, she couldn't tell him what they had really been discussing- Lauren's presence in the Forbidden Forest, the closing of the Hogwarts grounds (the latter he probably already knew from Harry)... They could only hope however that thus far Harry had heeded her warning about telling Sirius anything.

"So you think it's a matter of possession?"

"It's possible," Remus said, and she nodded.

"Well, there's the problem of V-" she hesitated and swallowed. "_You-Know-Who_ functioning in a Death Eater meeting without having to concentrate on possessing her, but-" she stopped short.

"But?"

"It's a possibility." She didn't want to tell him that she thought he could have been doing it when Harry spotted Lauren last month.

"Also, I'm not sure if it's important but I saw Snape in the Restricted Section that day. I left, but I watched for a minute... he went to the potions."

Remus nodded once when Sirius looked up. "We thought at first it shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary but surely he would know every potion in that section by now, unless..."

"Unless there was something there he wouldn't have a use for until now." Rosemary finished.

Sirius' face hardened. "Unless he has something to do with the control over her in the first place."

There was a pause.

"What? Sirius, you can't be- well- _serious_-"

"Snape, _causing_ it?" Remus shook his head. "I don't know, maybe you're just forgetting he's-"

"On our side?" Sirius asked. "Part of the Order? Keeping an _eye_ on her? Maybe you're forgetting he's the only one we have telling us what's going on with her."

The other two fell silent a moment, not wanting to admit that he had a point.

"Sirius, Dumbledore trusts him," Remus said suddenly.

"I don't."

"Yes, but you trust Dumbledore's judgment, don't you?"

"I don't trust Snape."

Rosemary got up. "Oh, _just_ Snape." She nodded, her tone clearly turning upset. "I suppose you want me to keep an eye on him, then?"

Sirius said nothing.

"Right. I'll get right on that," she said before leaving the room.

Remus sighed. "She thinks you're being stupid."

"You both do."

"To a point," he admitted. "But that doesn't mean-"

"Well we've got nothing else to go on, have we? And me left here to sit in that damned library, with nothing to show for it, while Dumbledore lets _Snivellus_ watch over her, as though he cares one ounce for her well-being?"

"I know you're upset and you want her back, we all do, but-"

"But I should just go to my room, eh, Remus? Go and wait for something to be done like a good little boy, like Dumbledore wants? It's not exactly like I could help being wanted by the whole world."

"I didn't say that-"

Sirius got to his feet and shoved the parchment at him. "No, you don't say a lot that you don't have to, do you?" He moved for the door, not looking back. "I guess I shouldn't expect you to understand what it's like."

In the time that passed Sirius became more withdrawn from the others in the house, and members of the Order started coming around again. A meeting or two was held in the month before the students returned to Hogwarts, and all the while Sirius and Snape bickered back and forth. It nearly came to a fight once, with Harry in the middle trying his best to stop them. By then even Harry was worried Sirius might do something rash. It was all Sirius could do not to leave the house, and they were sure, had he not been a wanted man, he surely would have.

It was this thought that kept both Rosemary and Remus from further revealing any information on Lauren or the sightings at Hogwarts, or their own suspicions on what was going on with Voldemort's control over her. Snape came into question a few times, though never much past Sirius' thoughts that Snape might be playing triple-agent and their doubts thereof.

Still, there was that nagging at the back of their minds that said perhaps they ought to keep an eye on Snape after all- especially since now he was to be giving Harry Occlumency lessons. For good will with Sirius, they decided Rosemary would do just that, as much as Umbridge's increasing grip on the school would allow.

A day later it was heard that ten Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban, leaving the Order alert for the increasing movement of Voldemort in his plans. They had a feeling by now that if Harry wasn't the target, as Dumbledore believed he was at least partially, that whatever else Voldemort was after was inside the Ministry of Magic, and that he was going to make a move very soon. There was one thing they suspected but they had no real proof, at least not yet.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to be in the castle with Umbridge, especially being a supposed former friend of Sirius Black, whom the Ministry blamed profusely for the escaped Death Eaters. As rumors of his moving them into Hogwarts through way of the Shrieking Shack increased and Hagrid was put on probation, Rosemary feared she might be next.

The talks through the fire in her office she considered having with Sirius, or Remus at the very least, were becoming more dangerous to conduct. The Ministry was already watching the post and the Floo network...

Within a few days Umbridge had placed another decree, in which no professor could give information beyond their own lessons to students. Several classes were already supervised by the High Inquisitor herself, and by the time February approached Rosemary decided to use the fire in her office before she found herself the subject of Umbridge's concern too.

"Are you there?"

A face appeared in the flames, followed by another. Remus spoke first. "Yes, we're here. What is it?"

She glanced around, keeping her voice lowered. "I didn't think I'd get a chance in the future. Umbridge is making things harder and harder around here. She's already virtually taken over two classes, at least. I... I might be next."

"You?" Sirius asked.

"The paper- you read it?" He nodded begrudgingly, and she continued, trying to keep her statements brief. "She already suspects me. Of course, it doesn't help that Dumbledore isn't doing much against her. He's the Headmaster, surely he can do something, right?"

Her question was lost on them as Remus gave a slightly sympathetic, "I don't know," and Sirius impatiently moved him out of the way.

"What about Snape? Have you caught him in anything yet?"

"No. I haven't. It's been a little difficult, as I was saying... Look, Sirius, all I know is he's giving Harry his Occlumency lessons and teaching Potions like he's supposed to."

"So you haven't seen him sneaking off, not even to his Death Eater meetings?"

"I don't exactly follow him everywhere, Sirius." She paused before adding a slightly sarcastic. "Would you like me to? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Remus' face came fully back into view. "If you could find any information on him you can, I'm sure Sirius would be grateful." He shot her a little look. "Right, Sirius?"

"Yeah."

"I-" She sighed. "Alright. If I notice anything suspicious you'll be the first to know, provided I don't get Umbridge breathing down my neck anytime soon. And I'll keep searching the Restricted Section while I'm at it."

"Thanks."

"If I still had the Map..."

"Yes, well, that's Harry's now," Remus said. "You'll have to do without it, especially if Umbridge has already confiscated it."

She gave a short nod. "I'll go see what I can do before the night's through."

"Good luck," Remus said before Sirius added, "Don't get caught."

With that they disappeared in the fire, and she made her way to her candles, grabbing her wand and dimming them before leaving her office as quietly as she could manage.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter XVII - Truth Revealed

Throughout the next several weeks Rosemary started observing Snape's daily routine, at least that routine outside of his classroom and office. There was only a slight pattern to it and it varied day by day in one area or another, but one thing she did notice was the fact that every few nights he would leave the dungeons and venture through the castle.

Where he went exactly was difficult to figure because she often lost him in trying to follow undetected; some nights she could follow in her Animagus form as far as the corridors near the Grand Staircase, while other nights she got as far as the courtyard outside before he disappeared into the shadows and she couldn't risk following.

It was perhaps by luck, then, that she finally did succeed in following him out onto the grounds and into the Forbidden Forest. His scent was much easier to follow on the ground here amongst the others she recognized from all those years ago. Her eyes locking on to his form moving in the shadows cast from the trees above, Breen followed several yards behind him.

Where was he going? He moved with determination, not seeming to notice her presence- and she didn't expect him to. There wasn't a lot here that escaped her perked ears, but there was so much that any person would miss.

Snape slowed, then stopped altogether. Breen lifted her nose but could smell nothing- nothing unusual, anyway. Then out of the darkness stepped the maned wolf, the necklace buried in the fur at her chest. _Tyra_. Breen moved to take a step forward and caught herself.

Tyra approached Snape slowly, turning her eyes upward at him before stopping to sit at his feet. Snape pulled a vial out of his cloak, the contents of which Breen couldn't determine, and a small bowl. He set the bowl on the ground and Tyra glanced at it expectantly.

Snape complied, pouring the vial's contents into the bowl, which the maned wolf then eagerly lapped. Breen tensed, wanting with all her might to rush in and reveal herself, accusing Snape of what Sirius had suspected all along. And then, before she could do so much as think, Tyra stood and, having thoroughly cleaned the bowl, left into the depths of the Forbidden Forest once more. Snape picked up the bowl and slipped it and the vial back into his cloak.

"Looking for something?"

She snarled, leaping forward before transforming. "You've been- been- All this time, and Dumbledore trusted you-"

He turned to face her, red-faced and flaring with anger, and raised his eyebrows slightly. "You always have been terrible at sneaking about. Pity, you'd think you might have learned with all those years around your dear friends."

"Shut up," she said, feeling for her wand and then pulling it out and pointing it his way. "I'm taking you to Dumbledore."

"Put your wand away, DiNozzo," he said, a hardness entering his snide voice. "I can't imagine Dumbledore would be concerned with this, considering it was his idea to begin with."

"He- what?" Her wand hand faltered.

"It's really not a difficult concept to grasp."

"But- you're-" She thrust her wand his way again, unsure. "You're helping her. Helping _him_."

"Yes I am, though not in the way you think, now put your wand _away_ or I shall have to do it for you."

She lowered it slightly.

"I gave her a potion I've been brewing to help with the control of the amulet. Clearly Ancient Runes isn't the only subject you need remedial lessons in."

"Just stop it, Snape." She tightened her grip on her wand once more, tone still strained despite the relaxed quality of his voice. "How is it helping, exactly?"

"I assumed the control was already beginning to break at the first Death Eater meeting, and later Narcissa noticed something similar. The potion dulls the amulet's power, but it will take her own will to break it completely. This will take time, however; do try to keep up, as much as is possible for you." He paused only briefly. "Had it not already been working, she would have surely attacked and likely killed you before you even revealed yourself."

"So..." She tried to wrap her head around the vast misunderstanding. "Why didn't you tell anyone before? If you are really helping her?"

Snape blinked an unamused blink. "Were I to tell anyone the chances of this information getting to the Dark Lord would have increased vastly. Your knowledge even now puts her in more danger than you could possibly imagine, which is why you must keep this to yourself if you wish her to have any possibility of living."

"To myself?"

He lowered his voice. "No one can know. Not anyone else in the Order, not even your precious friends."

She grew defensive. "What am I going to tell Sirius now?"

His shrug was nonchalant as he headed toward the castle once more. "Tell him she's dead for all I care, DiNozzo. Black's emotional state is no concern of mine."

* * *

Weeks went by and the arrival of March saw the first Order meeting in a long while. The return to Grimmauld Place was something Rosemary looked forward to and yet dreaded. She had not contacted Sirius and Remus either through the fireplace or some other means in a month, but they had tried contacting her. Often times she pretended to be napping when Sirius' voice came hissing from the fire, or simply not gone into the room at all.

The knowledge that she could not tell them what she knew and that she still hadn't devised an explanation still weighed on her mind. As the meeting ended Snape pulled Dumbledore to the side to explain what had transpired that night in the Forbidden Forest and Rosemary hurried out of the dining room away from her friends. She could hear their footsteps behind her as she ascended the stairs.

"What's the hurry?"

"There's no hurry," she lied, not turning back as she pushed open the door of a room on the first floor.

"What have you found out?" Sirius asked, his voice lower this time as he and Remus entered the room behind her. She glanced over their shoulders out the door to be sure they were alone.

"I... You're going to have to take Dumbledore's word on Snape."

"Why?"

"Because... Just because."

"Has he been sneaking off?"

"Please just drop it, Sirius."

"Maybe you sh-"

"Be quiet, Remus." Sirius' face grew hard suddenly. "This is my wife we're talking about, how do you expect me to drop it?"

She sighed, moving past them out the door. "Look, I've told you what I can. Have some faith, for her sake."

"Faith?" She heard him ask as she left the room and started to ascend the stairs another flight. His face appeared in the doorway and he stepped out. "Faith never saved anyone, did it?"

Without answering, she made for her room to decide what she would tell him should he ask further, and ask further he did. That night dinner was tense. It seemed Sirius and Remus had been bickering and Rosemary had taken to ignoring them as much as she could. Several of the Order members were still around for planning and discussion concerning the Department of Mysteries and the Death Eaters that were still at large, and only a few down the table seemed to be conversing at all. Dumbledore had left already, but Snape remained. His presence agitated Sirius even more than Rosemary's general silence did.

Sirius glanced Snape's way and set his fork down with a clatter. "Funny how you haven't been reporting on the Death Eater meetings recently..."

Snape looked his way. "The Dark Lord does not assemble his followers so regularly."

"His followers? You count yourself a follower?" Sirius' accusatory tone made nearly everyone at the table look his way, but Snape hardly blinked.

"How quickly your simple mind forgets, Black; my position as Death Eater is merely a cover Dumbledore himself instructed me to take. Clearly the man knows what he's doing, especially when it comes to _your_ instructions. Or do you doubt him?"

Sirius' voice began to rise as he did from his seat. "I doubt _you_. Then again, maybe Dumbledore doesn't know everthing-"

"I'm sure he'll be shocked to hear that from you." Snape raised his eyebrows mockingly.

"Just whose agenda are you working towards?"

Snape's voice began to rise this time. "I have the best interest of the Order-"

"Oh, the Order is it? Forgive me for thinking otherwise-"

"-at heart, I know where my loyalties lie-"

"-It is so _very_ easy to tell, what with your clear respect of me and my house, your headquarters-"

"-Perhaps you ought to take it up with Dumbledore himself instead of wasting my time-"

By now Sirius was pulling out his wand. "Maybe I'll just deal with it now and you'll have nothing to worry about-"

"Sirius, put your wand away," Remus was on his feet, trying to pry Sirius' wand out of his hand.

"Remus, get off!" Sirius jerked his arm away as Snape pulled out his own wand, aimed for Sirius.

"It's more trouble than its worth, Dumbledore's going to-"

"Oh, Dumbledore can piss off, this is my-"

"How very noble of you, Black, pity your wife and dearest friend can't be here to back you up like they did in school-"

Remus pulled his own wand out of his coat, moving its aim between them. "Sirius, he's not worth-"

"How _dare_ you talk about James," Sirius snarled. "He was fifty times the man you'll-"

"Five against one, it was always such fair odds-"

"Stop!" Rosemary was on her feet now, her own wand pointed first at Snape almost instinctively, and then settling on Sirius. "Just stop it!"

Her uncharacteristic anger startled them all and they seemed to freeze, looking her way.

"Your attitude is _ridiculous_, Sirius- badgering me, picking fights, treating Remus like- like-" She jabbed her wand Sirius' way. "You just shut the hell up for once and _trust_ someone. Lauren will be back soon and how do you think she's going to react when she hears how you've been behaving?"

Sirius didn't answer; he was too stunned to.

"She's not going to like it, is she? Now stop this fighting because like it or not Snape's on our side, and I know it for a fact. If you're not going to trust Dumbledore then at the very least trust _me_ and stop being such a baby! Put your wands away!"

There was silence, but Sirius' wand hand lowered as Snape slipped his wand back into his cloak. Finally Sirius put his own away.

"Now," She huffed, her voice quieting. "I'm sorry but you're both being ridiculous. All you're doing is making it harder for everyone to concentrate on You-Know-Who, and I've got enough to deal with without you two acting like children all the time. If you can't get along then maybe you should pretend eachother doesn't exist."

Sirius muttered something under his breath.

"Well..." Snape drawled coolly. "There's an idea. Pity I've got more important matters to attend to now than arguing with you, Black."

Sirius' gaze flickered to Snape, his voice acidic despite the calm tone. "Then get out."

"Gladly."

With that Snape left and Sirius and Remus returned to their seats. Rosemary sat with a huff. After a few seconds of being unable to eat she rose from her seat and left the room. A few people down the table started their chatter again rather awkwardly, and after a minute or so Remus got up and left the room as well.

He found her curled in a chair in the library with her eyes closed, and paused in the doorway before closing the door behind him and sitting in another chair nearby. She didn't move.

"Sirius?"

"No."

She sighed, turning in the chair slightly. "I wish he would stop this."

Remus considered his answer a moment before responding. "He's just upset that he can't do anything to get Lauren home any faster. Sirius never has been one for inaction."

"We're doing all we can. He doesn't have to take it out on us. Or Snape."

"He's always taken it out on Snape."

"Well..." She opened her eyes to look at him. "Snape is on our side now. I... can't say how I know."

"I understand."

"Will you tell him that? That everything's going to be alright and Snape's not someone to worry about? That... if I said any more, it might..."

He nodded. "I'll tell him, but I can't guarantee he'll listen."

She was silent a moment. "I don't understand why he has to be so... angry with us."

"He's worried."

"We all are. Doesn't he know that?"

"Yes. But Lauren's his wife, and they've been apart for fifteen years."

She straightened in the chair. "So he thought he'd never see her again?"

"Didn't you?"

For a moment she looked at him. "No, I guess I _didn't_ think we would. But there's always hope... and since we know she's alive..."

"Yes..."

"We're going to get her back soon." She got up. "I have to get back to Hogwarts. Just... tell him that."

"We'll meet you through the fire soon."

She nodded, heading for the door. "If the Ministry hasn't started monitoring those too."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter XVIII - Of Potions and Phoenixes

As it turned out the Ministry was indeed monitoring the fires throughout the castle, even those in the professors' offices. The term went as usual, with Umbridge making decrees and trying her hardest to get Dumbledore, or at least Harry Potter, on something incriminating. Dumbledore's Army still met in the Room of Requirements, just outside of Umbridge's knowledge.

It was not to stay that way for long, however. Within the span of a few weeks Umbridge weaseled a confession out of Marietta Edgecombe and Harry was taken to the Headmaster's office. Fudge, along with Percy, Dawlish, and Shacklebolt, arrived in time to find out (rather incorrectly) that Dumbledore in fact started Dumbledore's Army.

"Did you hear," a student whispered to another in the middle of class the next day. "Dumbledore's gone. Vanished with his phoenix."

"Gone?" The other student's suprise was clear.

"Oh yes. Took on two Aurors, Umbridge, _and _the Minister of Magic by himself, and just vanished."

"They were trying to arrest him," another student piped up, turning in his seat to whisper with the other two. "And Fudge's assistant was with them- a Weasley, was it? I hear Dumbledore used an Unforgivable on one of them."

The first student gasped. "An Unforgivable? _Dumbledore_?"

The third nodded. "They were trying to take him to Azkaban for it too, but he-"

"Settle down, please," came a voice from behind the desk at the front of the room. The professor was reading intently from a book and hardly took the time to look up at them. "You can talk after your translations are finished."

The third student again lowered his voice to barely a whisper. "But he left before the Aurors could take him in."

The door at the end of the room creaked open, and the students immediately straightened in their seats. In the doorway stood a sallow-looking man- Professor Snape. His piercing stare bore through the book at the professor, who looked up. "Professor DiNozzo, a word?"

She watched him a moment before closing the book and slipping it into her desk, a hardness coming into her voice as she rose and walked toward the door. "Yes, of course."

"I will keep this brief," Snape said when the door was safely closed, and a chatter roiled up from inside the classroom. "You will administer it tonight."

A moment passed in which she tried to understand what he was talking about- before he handed her a small vial. Understanding then, she slipped it into her cloak. "But-"

A stern edge entered his voice. "You will administer it. I have other matters to attend to. Do try to stay out of _her_ notice, as hard as that may be."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine."

Without another word he turned and disappeared down the corridor, and she entered her classroom again. "Alright, those translations; let's see them."

That night Rosemary returned to her book- one she had borrowed from the Restricted Section- for only a brief while before the castle settled sufficiently and she left her quarters. It was more difficult to leave now because of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, whom she hoped didn't yet have the authority to question professors, but luckily she was not stopped or even seen, from what she could tell, and made it safely outside.

The moon hung high in the sky then, and she transformed to take that last length to the Forbidden Forest. On the breeze she caught the scent of her friend and followed it to find her lounging in wait for Snape.

_Tyra?_ She asked, hesitating.

No answer.

_Lauren?_

Still no answer from the she-wolf who turned her gaze to her, almost emotionlessly. It was strange; for a creature with seemingly little expression in the first place, she now had a zombie-like appearance that was deeply unsettling.

A moment passed and Breen transformed, pulling the vial and bowl from her cloak. She set the bowl down and seemed to get a response from Tyra, whose ears perked slightly. The maned wolf got to her feet and walked over as she poured the vial's contents into the bowl, and just as before she lapped it eagerly down.

After a minute or two Tyra turned to walk into the forest again, a little more naturally than she had approached, and suddenly Rosemary had an idea. She transformed once again, the bowl and vial still before her, and walked a little ways after the maned wolf.

_Tyra?_

This time Tyra turned on three legs, the fourth poised in mid-step. Something twinkled in her eyes- life?- but still she said nothing.

_Can you hear me?_

Tyra stood watching her a long moment before turning away again and walking into the forest. With a sigh the other transformed, retreived the bowl and vial, and returned to the castle once more.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter XIX - The Unspeakable

"Good evening, Death Eaters."

Voldemort's chilling voice rang out through the silence that engulfed the manor in which his followers gathered. It was something they hadn't heard in a while now, but it was a familar greeting all the same. In unison they responded, "Good evening, my Lord."

"The time at which we take the Department of Mysteries nears. I have located what I desire and stand ready to choose my most loyal of followers to undertake the task." His scarlet eyes scanned the room before stopping on one figure in particular.

"Severus."

Snape hardly blinked. "Yes, my Lord?"

"Dumbledore... is he still with the boy?"

"Dumbledore has left Hogwarts, where I am yet uncertain. Potter, however, remains."

"Good." Voldemort's gaze settled on a door just past Snape, which creaked open. Nagini slithered through the Death Eaters who stood there to her master's side, turning her unblinking gaze on the door as well. "Lucius, our guest, if you will."

Lucius Malfoy broke from the circle and walked out the door, just as another figure walked in. Boldly she stepped through the circle of Death Eaters, moving to Voldemort's side. Voldemort's eyes settled on the amulet around her neck, and then on her face as he circled her once.

The door opened again and Lucius came through once more, this time with a bound man.

"Your guest, my Lord," Lucius said, wand pointed at the man who entered before him. Lucius bowed to Voldemort and then rejoined the circle, blocking the man in the center.

"An Unspeakable... Keeper of the secrets within the Department of Mysteries." Voldemort mused. He paused, still keeping his calm tone with the man and yet turning this time to Lauren. "I know what lies within, what secret you hide from the rest of the world. In due time the Department of Mysteries will go unguarded and I will have what I desire."

Voldemort paused again to move a lock of hair from her face with his wand. Whether words passed from his lips to her ears then was unclear to the Death Eaters around them, but Voldemort stepped back and Lauren's gaze turned to the man.

From his position near Lucius, Snape could see her clearly; she slid her hand into the robes she wore and retreived her wand, the one he knew so well, and raised it. No words escaped her lips and yet a spell erupted from the tip, striking the man in an unmistakable flash of green. The man crumpled to the floor.

The Dark Lord spoke again but he didn't hear it. Snape studied her expressionless face and her light eyes, momentarily fixed on the man lying dead on the floor. As they lifted to rest on Voldemort once more, Snape found himself slightly alarmed, inwardly, at what he saw from here. No longer were her eyes dead as they were under the amulet's control; they glimmered in the dim light from candles nearby.

It was then that his suspicion grew into the realm of confirmation. She had killed without hesitation of her own volition. Something was terribly wrong.

* * *

Severus Snape made his way through the corridors of Hogwarts as quickly as he could manage. Though he was scheduled to return to his quarters for the remainder of the night and report to Dumbledore at the next Order meeting, this news couldn't wait another day.

Up the Grand Staircase, left off the landing, just down another corridor and there he was. He flicked his wand, opening the door to the classroom with ease before approaching the door to the professor's office and quarters and laying a heavy knock there.

No answer.

"Open the bloody door," he hissed loudly enough that he hoped the professor therein would hear. She did.

"What?" Rosemary opened the door, looking half asleep, and blinked at him. "It's almost three in the morning- What's go-"

"Are you so incompetent that you fail to follow a simple direction?"

"...What are you talk-?"

"_Did you administer the potion as directed_?" He asked through clenched teeth.

She paused in bleary thought, blinking a little. "Of course I did, I'm not an idiot-"

Snape whirled and headed toward the door on the far side of the classroom.

"What's going on? _Snape_?"

Her answer was the closing of a door behind him as he left.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter XX - A Change of Plans

"Your report, Severus?"

Snape sat once again in the dining room of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, turning to Dumbledore, who sat at the head of the table. He did not hesitate but there was certain information he decided to refrain from giving on what had transpired the previous night.

"The Dark Lord plans on delivering an attack on the Department of Mysteries very soon. An Unspeakable was killed last night."

"The Ministry hasn't reported anyone missing yet," Shacklebolt said, looking to Dumbledore as well. "They're still looking for you, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore nodded once to Shacklebolt before returning his gaze to Snape. "And the Death Eaters?"

"All were present."

Dumbledore turned this time to Moody. "And your report, Alastor?"

When the meeting had concluded, Snape caught Dumbledore's eye and the two lingered after the rest had left the room.

"Dumbledore," Snape said, his voice quiet. "I left DiNozzo to give Black the potion last night so as to lead suspicion away from myself and arrive at the meeting early."

"Yes...?"

"_She_ killed the Unspeakable last night; there was no hesitation. Headmaster, she was given the potion on time which meant it should have been working. She did not appear to be controlled."

"What are you saying?" Dumbledore asked softly.

"That it is my belief that she acted of her own will when she murdered the Unspeakable."

"Is it possible that she did so only to hold up the appearance of still being under his control?"

There was a pause from Snape. "I don't believe so. Should she be on the side of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, I fear she may well reveal the fact that I have been giving her the potion. This could greatly jeopardize my position as a trusted Death Eater. Even if it was not her, so to speak, who committed the murder, then the effects of the potion are not working quite as well as we had hoped... Might I suggest we cease?"

Dumbledore was quiet a moment. "No."

"But Headmas-"

"The administration of the potion is of utmost importance. If you fear the true effects of the potion and what is at work here, Severus, then as a precaution we can entrust the task to another."

Snape watched him a moment and then nodded curtly.

"I trust you will notify DiNozzo only of the most important information?"

"Yes."

"Good."

* * *

"Look, we're doing everything we can. You have to understand that."

Sirius ignored his friend for a moment, kneeling to pull out a cobweb-caked book from the bottom shelf of the library before standing and going to his usual seat. "No, we're not."

"Sirius," Remus broke in this time. "We are-"

Sirius' piercing blue eyes flickered to Remus. "We're _not_. I could be doing something, _anything_ other than looking through these stupid books like-"

"Like the rest of us?" Rosemary took a seat nearby and sighed. "I'm sorry I yelled at you before, but there's more at work here than you know."

"Like what?" Sirius asked.

She was silent a moment. "You have to trust me. We're doing good by looking in these books. Already we've found out what we're not dealing with- the Imperius curse. That leaves-"

"Possession," Remus interrupted, giving Sirius an encouraging look. "Either possession of the person directly, or possession through an object..."

Sirius seemed to stop mid-thought. "The necklace."

"What?"

"The necklace, Remus, the _necklace_," he said, flipping through the pages of the book in his lap. "Snivellus mentioned it after the first meeting."

The other two looked at each other, Rosemary wondering if she ought to tell him of the potion. Snape had told her not to, but-

The door to the library creaked open, and as if knowing her thoughts Snape poked his greasy head in. Ignoring the others and Sirius, who was flipping almost frantically through the book before tossing it aside and grabbing another, Snape looked at her. "A word?"

She glanced briefly between Sirius and Remus before getting up with a hard, "Yes?"

Snape opened the door wide enough for her to exit the room. She glanced back once and gave Remus a shrug in return for the perplexed look he cast her way.

Once the door was safely closed and quickly warded, Snape spoke. "You will administer it until further notice."

"The-"

"Yes," Snape said roughly before lowering his voice barely above a whisper. "Don't be so stupid as to blurt it out for the whole house to hear, DiNozzo. Remember what is at stake here."

She gave the slightest hint of a resentful nod.

"Between Order meetings, Death Eater meetings, and Potter's Occlumency lessons I simply have no time. Dumbledore gave me the order to pass the responsibility to you. _I trust you will not fail_?"

"No," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Just have it brewed and ready when I come for it."

"Good. Don't be late." He turned and made to walk away again.

"Snape?"

He turned back to her. "...Yes?"

"What was your waking me up all about?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

She sighed in frustration. "You, last night, banging on my door like a madman- What, your questioning my competence couldn't wait until today?"

An annoyed edge entered his voice, tinged with the sarcasm typical of him. "Don't be _stupid_, DiNozzo; I know it's exceedingly difficult for you but do try. As _flattered_ as I am at the thought, are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

"You-" She shook her head, unable to finish that thought before muttering, "God, I hate you."

"My sentiments exactly," he returned as she stalked off into the library once more.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter XXI - Preparation

A few weeks went by in which students took their OWL and NEWT exams, and Rosemary brought the potion to the maned wolf in the Forbidden Forest under Dumbledore's orders. The encounters went roughly the same, with Rosemary leaving the vial's contents in a bowl for Tyra to lap, and then leaving again once the potion was gone. Snape continued to brew it as long as needed, keeping very tight-lipped about the real reason behind her giving the potion instead of him. Luckily enough for him she hadn't inquired further about his waking her the night before giving her this task, and neither had she suspected anything about the task in the first place. He trusted Dumbledore in that she would not be in any more danger doing this than she would have been in otherwise, and that was enough for him.

Not that he cared for her well-being outside of the fact that she was an Order member and they needed all the members they had, of course.

One night, however, she found that Tyra was not in the place they usually met- and a quick transformation revealed that her scent was old. Immediately distressed by this, Rosemary returned to the castle to alert Snape.

"What?" He asked when she knocked on his door, sounding thoroughly annoyed. Had it not been dire, she wanted to tell him, she would never dream of waking such a bitter man in the middle of the night as he had done to her not long ago.

"Snape..." She lowered her voice to barely a whisper. "She's gone."

He took a moment to respond. "Are you certain?"

"_Of course I'm certain,_" she hissed. "My nose has never lied before."

He raised an eyebrow at her momentarily, obviously not catching what she was referring to, but he didn't inquire further. "He must have moved her." Without another word he turned and disappeared back into the room again.

"Snape?" She asked quietly from outside the door.

"Get your things," he said.

"All of them?"

Impatience crept into his tone. "If you wish; I don't have time to babysit and monitor everything you pack, DiNozzo. We've got to alert the Order. Meet me outside the gates."

"Well if you would just tell me what we're doing, maybe I wouldn't have to ask."

He ignored her.

With that she left him to his own preparation and returned to her quarters to pack her things. While Snape left to tell McGonagall what was going on, Rosemary waited outside the gates. When Snape finally joined her, he had less things than she.

"Dumbledore will meet us at-"

"How did you-"

"Grimmauld Place," he said with some emphasis. "Now hurry up and take my arm."

"I can Apparate myself, thanks," she said, picking her things up once more. In an instant he raised his wand and Disapparated, and she followed suit shortly after.

In a whirl and an uncomfortable landing they arrived outside the house. Snape approached as the door revealed itself, and Rosemary followed. She walked in front of him to knock on the door, glancing around briefly to be sure no Muggles had seen.

The door swung open and in the doorway stood a large dog, who cocked his head slightly at the two of them on the doorstep.

"Padfoot," Rosemary said quietly, leaning over toward the dog slightly. "We'll explain once we're inside."

The dog turned and disappeared into the darkness of the corridor beyond and the other two followed, the door closing behind them.

"Sirius?" She called down the corridor as loudly as she dared with his mother's portrait still on the wall. There was no answer, but a dark shape turned into another doorway. "We'll meet you in the dining room." With that she ascended the stairs to put her things away.

Dumbledore arrived shortly after and Snape met him in the dining room before the others. Snape imformed him of the situation and Dumbledore sent out a patronus, hoping to alert the other Order members who had not already been alerted by McGonagall from Hogwarts.

Upon descending the stairs once more, Rosemary found Sirius and Remus waiting at the bottom.

"What's going on?" Remus asked.

"I'm not sure," she said, again very tempted to tell Sirius of Lauren having been in the Forbidden Forest all this time. "You-Know-Who's moved her."

"From Malfoy manor?" Sirius asked this time.

She gave them a glance she hoped Sirius would take as a yes. "I assume Dumbledore will call together a meeting; we'd better be ready."

Sirius headed immediately for the dining room. Remus, however, lingered, keeping his voice low.

"He's moved her from the Forest? Why?"

"I don't know. She didn't get the-" Rosemary stopped short. She hadn't yet told him about the potion, but now that Lauren wasn't going to be around to be given it, would it matter?

"Didn't get what?"

She glanced back at him, hesitating. "I'll tell you later."

With that they both entered the dining room to await the start of the meeting.

"I can only guess when the Dark Lord will call together his followers for a final meeting," Snape said to Dumbledore from his seat at the table. "I assume it will be very soon."

Dumbledore nodded once. "We will make the meeting brief."

The remaining Order members, minus McGonagall, arrived within a short amount of time. All seated themselves at their respective places at the table.

"The Dark Lord is on the move," Snape said, starting the meeting. "He has recalled Lauren Black, whom he has had under his control since last summer."

Snape paused, leaving a few of the Order members to glance at each other.

"It is my belief that he will assemble his followers very soon for his attack on the Department of Mysteries." He looked to Dumbledore.

"We can beat them there, Dumbledore," Moody said, his blue eye rotating eerily in its socket. "If they launch their attack when the Ministry's not around."

Dumbledore considered this. "Kingsley, Tonks... can you ensure that should the attack happen while the Ministry is occupied, that they are not involved?"

"Yes," Shacklebolt's deep voice rumbled.

"If you all will remain here until further notice," Dumbledore said, looking around the table.

"Dumbledore," Sirius broke in suddenly. "I assume you've thought of how we'll get her back?" He studied the man slightly, not quite convinced of it.

Dumbledore's answer was calm. "I have, Sirius."

"And how he's controlling her?"

"You were correct in assuming it was the necklace. There is no need to worry further."

Sirius stiffened in his seat, but kept his tone even and calm. "We're not leaving it up to Snivellus, are we?"

Remus and Rosemary gave him slightly shocked looks. From his seat, Snape glared daggers.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, seemingly unfazed by Sirius' namecalling. "Will not be joining us."

"Convenient."

A hint of sharpness entered Dumbledore's voice. "Severus must ensure Voldemort's trust in him. Neither will Professor McGonagall be joining us, to keep watch at Hogwarts in mine and Severus' absence. I will personally ensure that your wife is returned safely, Sirius."

Sirius watched Dumbledore a moment before breaking his gaze, apparently placated for the time being.

Dumbledore looked around the table once more. "Lauren may yet give us more trouble than we anticipated, but no matter what happens I must ask you all not to harm her. Stun, immobilize, if you must, but do not harm her..." He paused, his voice growing quiet. "No matter what spells she is using. We cannot say for certain the extent of Voldemort's control over her, even now."

"Exactly what are we up against, Dumbledore?" Moody asked.

Dumbledore's silver-blue eyes turned to meet Moody's. "Lauren possesses an aptitude for powerful spells unrivaled by most, but it is her emotions and determination that drive them. Under Voldemort's control I do not know how much of that emotion and determination comes through. Still, there are other things we must be aware of, particularly her penchant for fire-related magic."

Sirius, Remus, and Rosemary glanced at each other, remembering Sirius and James' accidental run in with such magic in their sixth year.

"Fawkes' blood remains bound with hers," he continued. "I cannot say for certain whether Voldemort is aware of the magic she possesses, but we must not assume he is ignorant. This magic can be tapped into without the use of a wand, so should she be disarmed one must not assume that she is not still dangerous either.

"Lauren's magic aside, we will be up against a lot in terms of a fight, which none can deny is inevitable." Dumbledore paused as if to let this sink in. "I must say, however, that this does not mean we do not have hope. Far from it, in fact. Where there is one noble cause backed by one sincere person with determination and perseverence, there is not and cannot be an utter loss of hope.

"Some of us may die, as in those years before and as do even now," he continued, and a few of them glanced at one another. "But as before there remains hope, and the promise that even though our entire Order may be wiped from the Wizarding world, there is one thing Voldemort cannot wipe away: our fight in the pages of history, that we may inspire future generations to rise against him no matter the odds... and no matter how those odds stand now, one day they will invariably turn to the favor of those that hold the values of the Order of the Phoenix. Always remember this: we may not win the battle, but we may yet win the war."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter XXII - Truth Will Out

"What didn't Lauren get?" Remus asked quietly the next afternoon, the previous day's inquiring still on his mind. He looked to Rosemary, who knelt on the floor to unpack the rest of her things. She glanced over her shoulder toward the door.

"Snape's been brewing a potion," she said, her voice low. "For months now we've been giving it to her in the Forbidden Forest. Snape thinks it's been helping with the control the amulet has on her."

"Are we certain it has?"

"No..." she stood, turning to face him. "But what else could we do? If it's helped, then... then that's good, right?"

He nodded thoughtfully. "And suddenly she's not there anymore?"

"Yes."

"Why did You-Know-Who have her in the For-"

"I don't know, Remus. She was there and- and so we just gave her the potion every night."

"A potion, then?"

Rosemary and Remus turned to see Sirius in the doorway, looking none too pleased. "Sirius-" Rosemary started, but he cut her off.

"And she's been in the Forbidden Forest all this time? Since when did you start withholding information from us, and since when did you both start withholding information from _me_?"

"Sirius, I wanted to tell you, I did, but-"

"But Snivellus told you otherwise."

"Yes, but-"

"Sirius, I'm sure she had a good reason," Remus broke in.

"You stay out of this. Since when did you start doing what Sniv-"

"Since it started meaning the difference between getting her back and not," she answered, her voice rising. "Excuse me, but I thought that was the whole reason we were doing this. Like Dumbledore said-"

"You could have told me; what difference would it have made?" He asked, his voice rising as well. "None at all, I think."

"No, it would have made a world of difference. Say, the difference between you staying here safely and you getting yourself caught in the Forbidden Forest and sent back to Azkaban- or worse, killed. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to stand by while you run off with a death wish!"

"We couldn't have you do that-" Remus started.

"Better to die than not risk it at all!" Sirius' voice rose over his.

"Oh, that's your solution to everything isn't it? Well, you don't have enough lives to give to every cause that crosses your path-"

"That's it, then, I'm going!"

"Fine! Just go hide in your room again-"

Remus grabbed her arm as Sirius headed for the door. "I think he means- Sirius, you can't go-"

"I bloody well can!"

Sirius threw open the door to see Snape standing there, poised to open it. "Do forgive me for intruding on such an entertaining scene, but-"

"Move aside, Snivellus, or so help me-"

Snape raised his voice. "Moody, Shacklebolt, and Tonks are already on their way to the Ministry of Magic, so it might be wise to _get a move on yourselves_. The Dark Lord's followers will surely be there and if you wish to s-"

"As much as I'd love to see it, would it kill you to speak a little more to the point?" Sirius growled.

"Potter has left Hogwarts, Black, and if you don't wish to see our only hope of defeating the Dark Lord _killed_, then I suggest you leave- _now_."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter XXIII - The Department of Mysteries

The three of them left the room quickly, all agreed to leave for the Ministry at once. Though their numbers were not nearly as many as they had hoped, they knew that aiding Harry and his friends was of the utmost importance. Sirius still insisted on going, and the other two decided that the situation was too pressing to argue it further with him.

Together they Apparated to the telephone booth that marked the entrance to the Ministry of Magic and piled inside, pressing the buttons as quickly as they could. The descent into the Ministry seemed to take a lifetime.

Sirius wrenched open the door and they bolted out, the sound of voices growing from somewhere beyond. The doors ahead were little match for them and within minutes the other members of the Order came into view.

"You made it!" Moody said gruffly as Shacklebolt and Tonks tried a few more doors. He clapped Sirius on the shoulder.

"This way," Tonks said, sounding thoroughly excited. They pushed through the door into a room with a large tank, inside which brains floated. "Look!"

Just around the corner lay a group of children- Ginny Weasley, who clutched her ankle, Ron Weasley, who lay giggling, and Luna Lovegood and Hermione Granger, who both appeared to be unconscious. The Order members stopped to help almost immediately.

"What happened-" Remus started.

"We're fine! Harry and Neville-," said Ginny urgently, shaking her head. "They're in the Veil Room!"

Sirius was the first to head for the door. The rest of them followed, hurtling toward the sound of screaming.

"Harry?" Rosemary asked.

Sirius glanced back. "Not Harry." The screaming stopped and Sirius raised his wand at the twin doors drawing nearer and nearer. "Alohomora!"

The six of them burst into the room, which seemed to fall away. There, in the middle of the room, was Harry and Neville- and ten or so Death Eaters. Without hesitating, Tonks sent a Stunning Spell at Lucius Malfoy, who jumped out of the way as the Order members made their way down the steps.

The room was alive with light as they all sent their own spells at the various dodging Death Eaters. They broke off, each taking a Death Eater- Shacklebolt took on two. Sirius advanced on his, who backed toward where Neville and Harry struggled with Macnair. Suddenly, Moody found himself knocked back and he fell, his head coming in contact with the ground rather hard. His magical eye rolled across the floor unnoticed.

Sirius Stunned his Death Eater, who fell to the ground, and then looked around wildly for Harry. There! Another Death Eater pointed his wand straight at Harry, and Sirius hurtled himself forward before the words even left the Death Eater's lips. The duel, it seemed, was a much-welcomed break, despite the urgency of the situation. Sirius was glad to be out of Grimmauld Place and actually doing something, especially something as involved as this. He ducked a spell aimed straight at him.

"Nice one!" He shouted, shoving Harry down and out of the way of two more spells. "Now I want you to get out of-"

But his sentence was cut short as a Killing curse narrowly missed him. Despite his excitement at being out of his house, the seriousness of the situation was not lost on him; he rushed to meet Bellatrix, shouting for Harry to take Neville and the prophecy and run.

Sirius swung his wand hand through the air, a jet of red streaking from it straight at his cousin. She deflected it easily, her hair sweeping wildly into her face and her eyes glittering madly. The room seemed to dissolve around him as Sirius focused all he had on the duel, those dueling around him turning into a blur of color and forms, sound and movement.

The appearance of Dumbledore was completely lost on the pair as they dueled. Unbeknownst to them, Dumbledore rushed down the steps and the dueling all around began to dissolve as Death Eaters scrambled to escape- but Dumbledore was too fast for them. He began rounding them up like cattle, pulling them back with an invisible lasso with ease.

Still, Bellatrix and Sirius battled. Fury filled Bellatrix's face and she sent a Stunning spell at her taunting cousin, who ducked it. The others around them had turned to watch now, almost unable to do much of anything with the confusion the arrival of Dumbledore had caused. Suddenly a voice cut through Sirius' thoughts:

"Sirius!"

He was unable at the time to tell just whose voice it had been, but it jarred him into another dodge, and he narrowly missed the billowing veil in the archway. He jumped back down the steps as another jet of red soared straight for her, but she slipped out of the way. Shacklebolt stepped forward, away from the Death Eaters Dumbledore was steadily collecting in the middle of the room, to help Sirius duel her.

Meanwhile, Moody and Rosemary made their way toward Tonks, who lay immobile on the steps, and Remus stopped to help Harry and Neville.

There was a bang from where Sirius, Bellatrix, and Shacklebolt dueled, and both Sirius and Shacklebolt fell to the ground yelling in pain. Bellatrix bolted for the door, deflecting a spell from Dumbledore before disappearing.

Harry bolted after her.

"We'll handle the rest!" Moody shouted to Dumbledore, motioning to the door. Dumbledore gave hardly a nod before heading out after Harry and Bellatrix.

He found them in the hall of the Fountain of Magical Brethren- and with them, Voldemort and Lauren. Voldemort spoke quietly to Harry, the words Dumbledore couldn't make out but he animated the fountain all the same, and just in time. The wizard's statue stepped in front of Harry as Voldemort sent a Killing curse toward him. Bewildered, Voldemort cried out before his eyes settled on the source: "Dumbledore!"

Voldemort watched him approach a moment before glancing to Lauren standing nearby. "Your favorite student has missed you."

Without a word, Lauren's piercing gaze turned from Harry to Dumbledore.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter XXIV - A Change of Hart

Harry watched the scene before him, unable to move. On one side Bellatrix lay pinned to the ground by a statue, Voldemort watching Lauren walking calmly toward Dumbledore on the other side.

In an instant Lauren whipped her wand out of her robes, a spell shooting toward Dumbledore. Dumbledore did not break his gaze from her, but deflected the spell and waved his wand toward the statues. The statues advanced on Voldemort, keeping him occupied. Lauren shot another spell at her former headmaster.

Dumbledore countered the spell with a Stunning spell of his own, which she deflected with ease. Still she advanced on him, her face expressionless.

"Lauren," he said calmly. "The Aurors are on their way. We will have you safely home soon."

"She doesn't want to go home, Dumbledore," Voldemort taunted. As if to agree, Lauren shot another spell at the Headmaster. "She rather likes the comforts I have provided her."

Lauren paused in her spell-firing, then suddenly shot another toward Dumbledore. It was laced with fire, which twisted and crackled along the bolt. Dumbledore dodged it a little more slowly than the last.

"This is not you," he said. "You are more than a puppet."

His words went unheeded, and still Voldemort taunted. "My control is absolute, Dumbledore! Now your precious phoenix is _mine_, reborn from the ashes of your neglect!"

Lauren's spells were becoming more precise, rippling with the flames that engulfed them.

"Do you see your sister in her, Dumbledore? Do you see your failure?"

"You are more than this..."

"Do you see where I have won?"

Lauren brandished her wand like a whip, the resulting spell a boiling jet that skimmed the hem of Dumbledore's robes in the split second before he deflected it.

Voldemort let out a triumphant laugh as Lauren advanced once more, very steadily, flames growing out of the floor around her as she went. No longer concerned with the statues around him, Voldemort turned to Harry, wand poised...

In an instant Dumbledore knocked the spell that issued from Voldemort's wand off course. The Dark Lord wheeled, shielding himself from a jet of silver Dumbledore sent his way. "The boy!" Voldemort yelled to Lauren, whose advance on Dumbledore had stopped, and cast another spell Dumbledore's way. "Kill the boy!"

Harry, who had been watching the scene rather helplessly, groped for his wand as Lauren now rounded and advanced on him. Dumbledore and Voldemort's spells became vigorous and fierce, but still Lauren approached. The doors on the far end of the room burst open and in poured familiar faces, both from the Order and from Harry's own friends, but still Lauren approached.

Harry knew he had to do something.

_Patronus,_ he thought suddenly, as if a little voice had whispered it in his ear. _Use the patronus_.

In what seemed like an eternity, Harry turned his wand upon the woman walking steadily toward him and mustered the happiest memory he could bring to mind.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_"

Both Voldemort and Dumbledore turned to see a bolt of silver erupt from Harry's wand, and as if out of nowhere a great stag materialized, landing gracefully on the floor. It faced Lauren, who stopped in her tracks, entranced by the sight of the creature.

Time stood still. The stag stepped forward, as light as air. It stopped just short of her, and then as gently as a feather alighting on water it lowered its head. Its outermost tines touched a single point at the middle of her chest.

Suddenly, there was a spark of white light and the faintest of noises, and Lauren collapsed, clutching the point at which the stag's antlers had touched her.

Slowly, very slowly, the stag lowered its head just near her ear. Breath flared its nostrils, ruffling her hair lightly.

Harry wanted to speak out, but his voice was caught in his throat. What was going on?

Fury and a lack of understanding boiled inside Voldemort, who turned, wand pointing straight for Lauren. "Get up!" He snarled at her.

Lauren rose, head drooped, red hair hanging loose in her face, still clutching at her chest. She opened her hand and out of it slipped the amulet, which fell to the ground and shattered with the volume of a train wreck in the silent hall. Little flames leaped up from the pieces that scattered the floor.

"Kill the boy!" Voldemort shouted in desperation.

Without warning, Lauren whipped around to face Voldemort, a jet of liquid flame shooting from her wand. Voldemort let out an angered cry as the jet morphed and grew into a tremendous phoenix. It hurtled toward him and the pair exploded in a whirl of flame.

As the fire raged, no one moved. The stag reared and dissolved into a thin layer of fog, which carpeted the floor before dissipating entirely.

A noise sounded from all around and people poured into the hall, but everyone present stood fixed on the flames, which roared quieter and quieter. Finally the flames died and in their center stood Voldemort, whose gaze flickered from Lauren to the people who had just arrived- the Minister of Magic among them. He moved toward the still-pinned Bellatrix... And then, like whirling smoke, Voldemort vanished.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter XXV - Aftermath

Fudge stood perplexed in the aftermath of the Fountain's destruction, unable to form a coherent sentence. He looked from where Voldemort had just stood to Dumbledore, who payed him no attention whatsoever.

The woman Fudge had seen briefly battle He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named cried out and fell to her knees. Fudge watched Dumbledore walk over to her and bend to comfort the crying woman, and Fudge found it in himself to speak.

"My word- You-Know-Who- here!"

Another man approached the statue under which Bellatrix had lain and spoke to the Minister, but he hardly heard.

Before him Dumbledore looked up, motioning past him to a group of people Fudge had yet to notice. A man stepped forward and Fudge gasped when he realized who it was.

Not only had You-Know-Who just been here, but now Sirius Black- wanted for the murder of no less than twelve people- Or, well, he figured he was still wanted. Fudge sputtered at Sirius. "Dumble- Dumbledore- That's Sirius _Black-_"

"I am aware."

"But- but- _here_? With You-Know-Who-? What on earth happened here?"

Fudge's question went ignored.

* * *

"Sirius..." Dumbledore said softly as the man approached, standing and in doing so helping Lauren to stand. "Take Lauren to Hogwarts."

Sirius reached out for her and she left Dumbledore's grasp, clutching tightly to him. "How? Apparate-? You know we can't App-"

"This is very important, Sirius," he answered, stepping closer. "Take Lauren to Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey will examine her. Alert Severus that his suspicions were incorrect- or at least I am led to believe they were."

A melody pierced the air, and behind it followed a brilliant bird, fire-hued and streaming through the air like a star. Dumbledore glanced knowingly at Fawkes, who dipped and headed straight for Sirius and the wife he held.

"Fawkes will take you," Dumbledore said. "Reach out; he will do the rest."

Sirius did as he was told and in a flash he, Lauren, and the bird all vanished. Dumbledore stood, heading for Harry.

"Dumbledore!" Fudge exclaimed suddenly, finding his voice once more. "I demand an explanation-!"

"We can discuss this after I have sent Harry back to Hogwarts."

"Harry- Harry Potter?"

Dumbledore reached out to Harry and helped him stand, asking if he was alright. Harry nodded and Dumbledore picked up the head of the wizard statue, pointing his wand at it with a muttered, "Portus." Fudge protested, but Dumbledore handed it to Harry. "This portkey will take you to the Infirmary. Kindly inform Madam Pomfrey of the Blacks' arrival. I will meet you in the Infirmary in thirty minutes' time."

Harry held the statue's head only a moment before being transported to Hogwarts as well.

Dumbledore turned to the remaining members of the Order. "If you will, return the children to Hogwarts and see that they get the medical attention they require, and that the Ministry's Aurors handle the Death Eaters accordingly." They nodded.

He looked to Fudge. "And now, Cornelius, I shall explain everything."


End file.
